Two Crickets, Twice The Luck
by Floweramon
Summary: Pinocchio fanfic. A girl gets transported into the movie and turns into a cricket. She becomes a co-conscious, and has adventures during and after the movie while figuring out why she's there. Simple summary. NOT a Jiminy/OC fic!
1. The Set Up

(Author's Note: Hello! Just some quick notes. This first chapter is meant to serve as a quick intro/slight back-story for the OC of this story. Later chapters will reveal more, of course. Also, I have no plans on turning this into an OC/Canon character romance story. For now I just want to write and see where it goes.)

* * *

In a tiny suburb, a family was getting ready to make a big change.

"All right Melissa, are you ready to go?" a woman asked a seventeen year old girl as she packed a bag into the trunk of a van.

"As ready as I can be," Melissa replied, shouldering her backpack and taking one last look at their house. She remembered growing up here. Losing her first tooth while playing basketball in the driveway (and getting a bloody nose in the process). Getting her favorite Christmas gift (a boogie man plush that she still had) and afterwards staring up into the light under the fake tree. Having her first kiss in front of the garage so her mother wouldn't peek out of the window and see. Now she had to leave this house behind, right in the last year she can claim as her childhood.

Fred walked by at that moment carrying more bags. He glanced at Melissa, a glance she recognized as meaning, 'Why are you wearing that shirt, AGAIN?!' She'd like to respond, 'To annoy you,' but she really just liked it. It was an odd number; tan muslin fabric with no cleavage, and something that resembled sleeves but just looked like feathery fur at the shoulders. It's a rather tacky thing, but it was her favorite among the shirts she had made. It stood out, it was unique, it only went with black pants (which she always wore anyway).

Instead, all Fred said was, "Hey, did you make your breakfast bars?"

"Yeah," Melissa nodded, not looking at him, "I figured they'd be good for the long ride."

Fred ruffed her hair, smiling as she gave him a glare, "Great to hear, you make the best snack food. Though you make the best food period!" Seeing that she was still annoyed, Fred turned to the older woman, "Melanie, are we all set to go?"

"Yes, let's just do a double check," Melanie said, then looked around, "Where's Delaney?"

"Bathroom," Melissa said.

"Well, make sure she has all her personal things as well," Fred said.

Melissa sighed and went back inside the front door. Taking a sharp right and the second door to the left, she immediately saw her half-sister trying to put on make up. She laughed, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Gettin' weady fo' de big twip!" Delaney said with a big lopsided smiled thanked to the messy lipstick job.

Melissa laughed again and walked in, helping her sister get cleaned up, "You don't have to do that Dell. We're moving, not going to Prince Charming's ball."

"Cause Daddy got a twansfer," Delaney repeated what their mother had said.

"Yeah... that's exactly right," Melissa finished cleaning her and turned her to the mirror, "See? You look pretty just as yourself."

She took a moment to notice the startling differences between them. Aside from ages, Delaney was the picturesque short curly hair, blue eyes, chubby faced angel, dressed all in blue, and except for being cute, looked so much like her dad. Melissa, on the other hand, took a lot from her mother. Her hair was brown, and constantly messy despite being long, her eyes a similar brown. Her build was thin, and her dark clothes didn't hide this. Melissa was sure one day Delaney would grow out of her fat and be a very curvy girl.

She was broken out of her reverie by Delaney's voice, "Mel! I haff somethin' fow you." She walked over to her princess backpack and pulled out something small. She turned to Melissa, "Hold out youw hand."

Melissa smiled and complied. Delaney dropped the item in her hand, and Melissa saw it was a simple little amber necklace shaped like a heart. It was hung on a thin metal chain.

"I fownd it on the gwound at sc'ool," Delaney explained, "I know you'we upset abou' movin', but I think it'll be nice."

Melissa smiled again and hugged her sister, "Thanks Delaney."

Melanie's voice rang out, "Melissa, Delaney, come on, we're going."

* * *

In the car, Melissa was already beginning to feel melancholy again. Mostly because Melanie and Fred were fighting while Fred was driving, and these fight were often tedious to sit through. She took care of Delaney by getting out a DVD player and giving her headphones. She popped in a Disney movie from the bag and soon was zoned out. Melissa wished to do the same, so she lay down, covered herself with a black fleece jacket, and within no time was able to tune them out and fall fast asleep. As she did she wished and wished she could be anywhere else, or even someone else...

* * *

{ Collodi, Tuscany, Italy, 1881 }

A certain cricket was making his way through the village, trying to find a good place to stay for the night. This seemed like a rather nice town, though you can't be too careful.

He jumped from lamppost to lamppost, barrel to barrel, trying to keep off the streets as much as possible. In the dark, it was harder to see just what was around him, and what could step on him. But at one point, something made him stop.

He turned around and looked down the edge of the barrel he was on. There was a small figure about his size down on the street, lying unconscious. He jumped down, and saw it was a lady cricket. He walked up and bent down to the figure, "Um, miss, are you OK?" He shook her a bit, "Hey, wake up."

* * *

Melissa wasn't sure why she was being shaken all of a sudden, but she wasn't happy about it. She opened her eyes and was prepared to give whoever it was a piece of her mind, until she came face to face with Jiminy Cricket.


	2. The Search

(Author's Note: I didn't plan on releasing a new chapter so soon, but seeing the reviews I'd already gotten encouraged me. I can't promise every update will be so quick, but since I was on a roll I thought I'd continue. Also, as I stated in the first chapter, I made slight revisions. Nothing major though. One last thing, I'm planning on uploading a character sheet for Melissa I did months ago so you'll have a better idea of her looks. My deviantART account is RichelletheDarknessQ. (It ll be my first post in quite awhile))

* * *

Without thinking Melissa slapped the living daylights out of the poor creature and screamed. She could hardly be bothered to care that she'd sent Jiminy Cricket tumbling backwards away from her. She grabbed at her hair, screaming some more, "What is this?! What's going on?!"

Jiminy tried to recover from the shock (after he stopped rolling), getting up and stumbling back over, "Miss, miss listen, calm down-"

"Calm down?!" Melissa looked at him with wide eyes and spoke, "You want me to calm down?!" She scooted away as he got within reaching range, "Y-You stay away!"

"Miss, I can see you're upset," Jiminy said, trying not to antagonize her but still trying to get closer, "But if you just let me help-"

He couldn't finish as Melissa had sprung up and pushed him away, running a bit to put more force, "I said get away!"

Jiminy fought hard to keep his balance before leaping away to a safe distance. He sighed a little, and then turned away. Before he could put more distance between them he heard a soft sob behind him, and he turned again. Melissa had crouched down and shrunk into a little ball, holding her head as she tried (and failed) to hold back frightened sobs. He hopped back, but kept a human's foot of distance between them.

Melissa, meanwhile, had far more pressing issues on her mind than the cricket standing a short distance away, "Oh God oh God, what the Hell is going on? This has to be a dream or something, but..." She could feel the cold cobblestone road beneath her, heard all the nearby bugs as they moved around in the night, smelled the rustic country air that, judging from the slight saltiness she tasted as she talked, told her she was near an ocean or sea. No dream was this detailed, this real.

Where was her family? Where were her mom, Fred, and Delaney? Just five minutes ago she could've sworn she was in a van sitting next to her sister, mom and Fred were arguing, Delaney watching a movie with headphones so she wouldn't hear them, and Melissa just laying down for a nap. Logically, this should just be a dream, but she couldn't believe it was. She was far, far away from them, a first-time experience for her. And if she was here, what became of her family?

"Mom," she whispered, worried for the woman who struggled for years to raise her before Fred came. "Fred," she whispered, now thinking of the man who'd helped support their family, and even though he was a pain, was fun to mess with. She closed her eyes, clutched the little amber necklace, and let out a choked sob as she as she cried, "Delaney... She buried her face in her knees and silently cried.

During her struggle to grasp her situation, Jiminy had begun inching closer as well. She seemed to be calming down a bit, but he was still cautious. As she began crying into her knees, he sat about half an inch from her and let her be. After a couple minutes though Melissa looked up at the cricket, blankly staring at him for a moment before saying, "What?"

Jiminy stood up, moving to her side as he talked, "I can see you're upset and confused. Now I don't know how I could help, but I don't want to leave you here like this." He crouched down to her and looked her in the eyes, "I'm trying to find a place to stay myself, so if you don't have anywhere to go, you could come with me."

Melissa continued staring at him blankly, then picked up her jacket and put it on, "Fine, sounds like a plan. I need somewhere to go." Now that she'd had her freak out moment, she realized she had to be cool-headed if she was going to figure this out. And despite the utter weirdness of the situation, she at least knew if there were anyone to trust, it'd be Jiminy Cricket.

Jiminy nodded, and helped her up, "Right, guess we'd better introduce ourselves first." He held out his hand, "Jiminy, Jiminy Cricket."

Melissa shrugged, and shook his hand, "Melissa, Melissa Chambers."

Jiminy smiled at her, and switched out the hand that held hers with his other, "Well, guess we'd better start looking." With that, he leapt while still holding her hand.

Melissa let out a yelp as she was carried through the air and to the top of the barrel. As Jiminy landed, she fell to the ground feet over head.

Jiminy helped her back up again, and after making sure she was all right asked, "Why didn't you leap too?"

"Why didn't I- Because I'm not a cricket you nut!" Melissa said as if he'd just said the most stupid thing in the world.

Jiminy stared with confusion, "Um... are you sure about that?"

"What, do I look like a cricket?" Melissa asked sarcastically.

"... Sort of," Jiminy answered.

Melissa's face fell at that, and she looked down at herself. First thing she noticed was that she was wearing gloves, which struck her as odd that she hadn't noticed earlier. But even more disturbing was the fact that she now only had four fingers. She pulled back the sleeve of her jacket, and instead of seeing fleshy pale-pinkish human skin, she saw a thin green exoskeleton-covered arm. She pushed the sleeve back down, and took off her backpack. She reached in and pulled out a compact mirror. Trembling slightly, she opened it.

A strangely familiar face stared back with shock. It was definitely a cricket (or at least what early Disney considered a cricket), with only the eyes and hair being any clues that she was staring at her real reflection. She reached up, felt the slightly hardened face, the nose that melded into the face, and going up further, touched the antenna protruding from her hair.

"Wh-wh-what? Why am-" Melissa forced herself to stop. She wasn't going to go through this again. Closing the compact, she stuffed it into the backpack and closed that, threw her hands up in the air, and said to no one, "Sure, why not, I'm a cricket. Let the nonsense continue." She walked over to Jiminy, took his hand, and took a breath, "I'm ready."

"All... right..." Jiminy wasn't sure what to make of her anymore, but at least she wasn't freaking out. This time they leaped at the same time, and even then Melissa went wide-eyed at just how far they were leaping. They went from the barrel, to the lamppost two feet away (which seemed like several yards to her), then to a hung-up shop sign, and up to the roof. Even then they didn't stop leaping across the roof.

Melissa took this opportunity to ask some questions, "So, what is this place anyway? I'm guessing I'm in Italy."

"Yes," Jiminy confirmed, "this is Collodi, a small village in Tuscany."

"I see," Melissa looked around the quiet village, thinking about that. If this was in Italy and communicating was no problem, did that mean she was speaking Italian? She shook her head, realizing she was thinking too hard about the technicalities of a Disney movie... that she happened to be in for no reason. She changed the subject, "What're you doing here?"

"Oh I'm just a traveler," Jiminy explained, "I just make my way hearth to hearth."

'Well that explains the clothes, and the smell,' Melissa thought to herself. She hadn't seen this movie in years, and she barely remembered anything but the bare details.

They'd leapt onto the crooked street as Jiminy's eyes fell on a shop. A warm light still flickered inside, and it looked inviting. "Hey Melissa, how about there?"

Melissa looked at it, and got a weird pang of nostalgia. She narrowed her eyes and nodded, "Yeah, that looks good."

With that, they headed for the house.


	3. The Plot Begins

(Author's Note: All right, I know this chapter is a lot longer than the previous ones, but I have good reason. As I was writing these chapters out, I realized that with the previous length, it would've taken like, ten or twenty chapters to get through the movie part. And I intend to go beyond the movie itself; so having too many chapters isn't an option. So what I'll do is try to cover each adventure of the movie in at least one or two chapters. So if you want to know, these were originally four separate chapters.  
Also, please remember to review. I'd really like to hear what people think so far.)

* * *

With a few more leaps they were at the window of the shop. Gathering herself, Melissa looked inside. The nostalgic feeling was getting stronger as she looked at the bright, colorful scene.

After looking through the window for a moment or two, Jiminy motioned towards the door on the left side. Melissa followed him, leaping down and saw him slip through a crack in the door. After he reached back to get his bag, she did the same, taking off her backpack so she could fit better, and slipping through to follow him.

Already he was checking the place, looking around. Melissa stayed by him at first, but when they got near the fireplace her attention started to wander. As Jiminy warmed himself, she decided to look around. There were so many colors, she felt like she was in a rainbow. Wooden creations were everywhere; clocks with several creative and different themes, beautifully crafted music boxes, and toys of all shapes and sizes. Even the furniture was specially crafted, with little faces and the like. She could tell she was in the home of a true artist.

'Well, I wonder where the puppet is?' Melissa thought to herself, and right at the same time she and Jiminy spotted said puppet on a work desk.

Jiminy was obviously interested in getting a closer look, so he ran right over. Melissa followed him up to the desk, straggling a little and just watching as he played around with the unfinished puppet.

"Hehehe, cute little fellow," Jiminy remarked. He pulled on the string as if pulling on a bell, even said ding ding before climbing up them, "Going up!"

Melissa watched him examine the puppet with a smile, feeling like an audience member with a back stage pass. She approached it, looking up at the face. The mouth and eyebrows hadn't been added yet, but even without those it was pretty cute.

"Well now!" a voice came from the stairs, causing Jiminy and Melissa to spin around quick, "It won't take much longer."

They spotted a small black and white cat coming down the stairs and turn around to respond to the man behind him, "Meow!"

"Just a little more paint and he's all finished," the elderly man continued, walking in the direction of the puppet.

Jiminy quickly grabbed the string and climbed up further out of sight to the top shelf. Melissa chose to hide behind a paint can that was on the work desk.

Geppetto mixed the paint with a paintbrush, then started working on the puppet's face, singing nonsense under his breath. While Geppetto continued work on his marionette, Melissa chanced a peek on the shadowed side of the can. She saw both the woodcarver and the cat, so intent on the puppet; they wouldn't notice a little cricket. She saw Jiminy leap from the shelf overhead to the display of music boxes nearby, so while they were distracted, she ran from shadow to shadow, and finally leaped down to the floor and up to that same area. She found Jiminy and hid next to him, going back to watching Geppetto at work.

Finally, the little puppet was done. "Now, I have just the name for you," Geppetto proclaimed, "Pinocchio!"

The name wasn't well received by Figaro or Cleo, the goldfish. But when Pinocchio was asked he liked it. That is to say, Geppetto moved the puppet s head up and down with his string.

"Well that settles it!" he declared. Jiminy and Melissa looked as each other, trying to contain their laughter. At that moment Geppetto was ready to test Pinocchio, and to start he started up the nearest music box. As he came closer they had to hide yet again. Melissa went behind the music box, while Jiminy went beneath it. A mistake made obvious as soon as Geppetto pushed the button. As the music played and the figures pretended to play along, the gears beneath began to hit, squash, and bruise Jiminy. This became obvious to Melissa as she heard him.

"Hey! Ow-ow-OW! T-take it easy there! Oof! Break it up there, will ya?"

As he crawled closer, she reached underneath and grabbed his hand to make it easier. Unfortunately he knocked his head on the key outside as well.

"Are you OK?" Melissa asked.

"Lot of down beats in there," Jiminy replied, picked up his hat. Despite herself, Melissa had to giggle at that.

During this, Geppetto was making Pinocchio dance to the music, with Figaro following. Geppetto sung along with the song as Figaro tried to paw at the puppet. Jiminy decided to check out the music box currently playing, and whenever the puppeteer got close, he played like he was one of the figurines. Melissa, on the other hand, stayed hidden for the most part. She was having just enough fun watching this funny little spectacle. Again, as weird as this situation is, she couldn't help but enjoy herself a little.

After the dancing was over, Geppetto put the marionette up. At that moment all the clocks started going off at once as their various themes chimed the time. Bird's called out, bee's buzzed, egg's cracked and peeped, a bird peeped as a hunter shot at it, a drunk hiccupped, a naughty child cried as he was spanked, a turkey wailed as someone tried to decapitate it. At that point Melissa noted that some of these clocks were kind of disturbing, even if they were carved to be cute.

"I wonder what time it is," Geppetto said, and Melissa did almost laugh at that. Suddenly she wished she'd seen this movie more recently, she'd forgotten how funny it was.

After checking his pocket watch, Geppetto started heading for his room with Figaro. Jiminy and Melissa were also getting tired. He motioned towards the shelf, and they quietly made their way up to the shelf above the work desk.

Jiminy was getting ready for bed, setting a place for himself on the head of a violin. Melissa, however, wasn't as ready for bed. Even though she was somewhat sleepy after such events, she knew from memory that the night wasn't over yet. But in keeping with the plot, she made a place beneath the neck of the violin. She set her backpack as a pillow and took off her jacket to use as a blanket.

Everyone's attention was drawn when Geppetto shouted, "Oh Figaro, look! Look, a wishing star!"

Jiminy and Melissa looked out the window and saw it in an instant. Among the dazzling diamond stars, one seemed to outshine them all. Melissa recognized it as the evening star, or Venus in other words, but apparently tonight it was the wishing star. She heard Geppetto say, "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might. Have the wish I make tonight." Then they all got to hear his wish; "I wished that my little Pinocchio might be a real boy. Wouldn't that be nice, just think! A real boy."

"A very lovely thought," Jiminy remarked, then yawned as he settled down again, "But not at all practical."

"Yeah," Melissa responded, but thought, 'Normally I'd agree completely, but I can't in this case. Nothing's practical in this world from what I remember.'

Everyone but Melissa and Jiminy were beginning to fall asleep. Mostly due to the fact that the clocks continued ticking into the night and on top of that, everyone else snored. This went on for at least a minute before Jiminy yelled, "QUIET!" Melissa shot up, bumping her head on the violin in the process. She was distracted from her pain when she realized that the noise had stopped; all the clocks froze, the other creatures stopped snoring, all from that yell.

"What the...?" Melissa whispered, then sighed, "Stupid cartoon logic." A light caught her attention and she turned to the window, "Here we go."

Jiminy spotted the shadow's growing and turned, "Now what's up?"

"I think the technical term is a deus ex machina," Melissa said, pulling on her jacket again and grabbing her backpack.

They saw the wishing star from earlier getting bright and brighter, but also getting closer and closer. It was at the window when Jiminy finally said, "Hey, what's going on here?!" He grabbed his things and hid in a pipe. Melissa, however, hid only just so she could get a good view. She heard an ethereal musical sound as the light took form. That form being of a beautiful blonde transparent woman, clad in a shimmering blue dress with draping long, transparent sleeves, and fairy wings.

"As I live and breath, a fairy," Jiminy whispered as he peeked out of the pipe. Melissa had to agree; this was certainly the last thing she'd ever thought she'd see in her entire life.

The Blue Fairy began to praise the slumbering Geppetto for his kindness and said she would grant his wish. She turned to Pinocchio and raised her wand, "Little puppet made of pine, wake!" She tapped him with her wand, the sound returning as Pinocchio shined, "The gift of life is thine."

As the light dimmed Pinocchio blinked and began to move.

Jiminy and Melissa looked at each other, then back at the scene, Jiminy commenting, "What they can't do these days."

They listened as the Blue Fairy explained to Pinocchio that he wasn't real yet, but he could be. If he proved himself, he could be a real boy, and that he must choose between right and wrong. Pinocchio innocently asked, "But how will I know?"

"How will he know?" the question made Jiminy roll his eyes.

"Your conscience will tell you," The Blue Fairy explained, making Jiminy nod.

"What are conscience?" Pinocchio asked the fateful question.

Jiminy seemed to have it at that, and repeating the question in amazement, he used his umbrella to float down to the conversation as he yelled, "I'll tell ya!"

Melissa looked at him as he fell, startled at his outburst. She looked around and saw a cloth hanging down and started climbing down after.

"A conscience is that still, small voice that people don't listen to anymore." Landing on the ground he pulled up a matchbox and leapt on before continuing, "That's just the trouble with the world today-"

"Oh wow," Melissa bounced off Pinocchio's head before landing down next to Jiminy, "You sound like some old man pining for the old days."

"What-? I'm not THAT old!" Jiminy said indignantly.

"Then how old are you?" Melissa asked.

Jiminy muttered something, and Melissa's eyebrows shot up.

"So you ARE an old man!"

"Hey I-"

"Hey, are you two my conscience?" Pinocchio asked.

"Huh? Us?" Jiminy and Melissa asked. Melissa was beginning to feel a pit in the bottom of her stomach as she said, "Wait, I-I-"

There was a giggle from above, and they turned to see the Blue Fairy bend down and smile, "Would you like to be Pinocchio's consciences?"

Melissa glanced at Jiminy, and saw his face going red as he stuttered, "Well, heh, well I, heheh... Uh-huh." She rolled her eyes, 'Great, he's a sucker for a pretty face.'

The Blue Fairy laughed again and turned to Melissa, "And what about you?"

Melissa opened her mouth to decline, but then thought about something. If anyone would know what's going on, it'd be Little Miss See All, Know All here.

"Actually ma'am, I was wondering if you could help me," Melissa said.

"What kind of help do you need?" The Blue Fairy asked.

"I know this sounds insane," Melissa began, "But I'm not from here, any of here. I-I mean this world here. I'm not even really a cricket."

"I know," The Blue Fairy said.

"I... you do?" Melissa asked.

"Yes, and I'm sorry for your ordeal. This must be a hard time for you." The Blue Fairy looked at her with apologetic eyes, "But sadly, I don't know why you were brought to this world, much less why you are a cricket."

"Hold on, so you're from another world?" Jiminy asked, "and you're not a cricket?"

"No, I'm a human," Melissa said insistently, "and I want to go back."

"Again, without knowing the purpose for your being drawn into his world, I can't help you," The Blue Fairy said.

"Can't..." Melissa felt more trapped then ever. If the freaking Blue Fairy couldn't help, then who could?

"But perhaps there was a reason for your meeting your friend here, and ending up here," The Blue Fairy said, "Perhaps you were destined to help Pinocchio become a real boy."

"Uh, listen lady, I-" Melissa looked up at the Blue Fairy, and was struck with nostalgia again. But this time it had nothing to do with the movie. The eyes, the face, the hair... this is how she had imagined Delaney as a grown up earlier. Except not as a fairy. She even spoke like her, except without the lisp. She talked confidently, but calmly, and with the utmost belief in what she was saying. She grabbed the little amber heart and sighed, "Sure, why not?" Apparently, no one can say no to a face like that.

"Very well, what are your names?" The Blue Fairy asked.

"Oh uh, Cricket's the name, Jiminy Cricket," Jiminy took off his hat and bowed.

"And I'm Melissa Chambers," Melissa said, not looking up at the fairy.

"Kneel, Mr. Cricket and Miss Chambers," The Blue Fairy instructed.

The two did as instructed. Jiminy was smiling, but the pit in Melissa's stomach kept growing.

"I dub you both Pinocchio's consciences," The Blue Fairy said, bringing her wand down and tapping them both as she spoke, "Lord and Lady high keepers of the knowledge of right and wrong, counselors in moments of temptation, and guides along the straight and narrow path." They both began to shine, and as the music played again and seemed to fill their insides, the pit still never went away.

"Arise, Sir Jiminy Cricket and Lady Melissa Chambers."

Now past the point of no return, Melissa opened her eyes. She felt... different. She couldn't explain it, but there was something very different inside her. She turned and looked at Jiminy. He was different too, at least physically. He was no longer dressed like a hobo, all the patches and tear were gone, and his clothes looked infinitely fancier.

Melissa stood to look at herself. The first thing she noticed was that she was in a skirt, same tan color as her shirt. Weirdly enough, she also clearly feel her old pants beneath the skirt. She still had her old shirt too, but her old red leather belt was gone. In its place was a red cummerbund. Her jacket was different too, but she couldn't see how exactly except that it was shorter and was puffy at the shoulder. She also noticed her hair was tied back into a low-hanging ponytail.

After she listened to Jiminy and The Blue Fairy banter about getting a badge for being a conscience, The Blue Fairy reminded Pinocchio to listen to them before fading back into star form.

"Goodbye milady," Jiminy said to the departing fairy.

"Goodbye!" Pinocchio waved goodbye.

"Yeah... later Fairy," Melissa sighed, feeling like she'd just been assigned eternal babysitting duty. She then saw Jiminy looking at his reflection and decided she might as well see the extent of the damage. She walked up the huge reflective red jar and looked. It wasn't as bad as she though. The jacket was long sleeved but short enough that it cut just a bit beneath her bust. It had a red gem at the neck-covering collar with two short gray ribbons trailing down from it. She also noticed it had tails like it was from a tuxedo. She also had a red tie for her ponytail. Her backpack was changed as well. It looked pristine and new, and now instead of being a graying white it was bright blue with dark blue pockets and straps, with a big yellow star on the front.

Jiminy, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, looking at himself from all angles and such. He looked at Melissa, "You don't look too bad yourself."

Melissa was silent at first, then just gave him a half smile, "Thanks, you look great too." She then noticed Pinocchio watching them, and pointed at him subtly with her thumb.

Jiminy turned, "Oh yeah! Almost forgot about you."

"Wow, we're off to a great start," Melissa said sarcastically.

Jiminy ignored that and continued, "Well Pinoke, maybe we all had better have a little heart to heart talk."

"Why?"

"You want to be a real boy, right?" Melissa asked.

Pinocchio nodded.

"Alright," Jiminy gestured to the ground, "Sit down, son."

Pinocchio flopped down, making them both jump.

Melissa looked at Jiminy, "So, you want to take it pops?"

"Sure," Jiminy sat on the matchbox, and began speaking, "Now you see, the world is full of temptations."

"Temptations?"

"Yeah, temptations! They're the wrong things that seem right at the time. But, uh, even though the right things may seem wrong sometimes, sometimes the, the wrong things may be right at the wrong time. Or uh, vice-verse." He laughed, coughed, and then asked, "Understand?"

Pinocchio smiled, opened his mouth, and then shook his head, "Uh-uh."

"Good lord, you have no clue what you're talking about," Melissa commented while also shaking her head.

Jiminy glared at her, then smiled as Pinocchio said, "But I want to do right."

"Good," Melissa said with a nod, "That's a good starting point."

"That's right," Jiminy agreed, "And we'll help." He leaped up to one of Pinocchio's feet, "And anytime you need us, just whistle."

Melissa leapt onto the other foot, "Just whistle? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, like this," and Jiminy demonstrated with a quick but clear whistle. Pinocchio tried but couldn't get it.

"No no," Melissa said, "You push your tongue against your teeth and-" she also demonstrated with two whistles of her own.

"Like this," and he tried it like she said, spewing saliva over them.

Jiminy quickly opened his umbrella, and Melissa ducked under. When the rain of spit ceased she said, "Uh, not quite." She also wondered how he could have saliva in the first place.

The third time he got it, and suddenly Melissa noticed something. There was music starting up in the background. Was she the only one aware?

Maybe not, since Jiminy then said, "Come on, let's sing it." He started dancing and tried to get Melissa to as well, but she shook her head and leapt away. He leapt to the same shelf and began singing, "When you get in trouble and you don't know right from wrong, give a little whistle!" And he whistled.

Melissa followed him, wondered if she would eventually break out randomly into song as well. She hoped not, but she found him rather amusing to watch.

"Not just a little squee, pucker up and blow!" Jiminy continued, "And if you're whistle's weak yell-"

"Jiminy and Melissa?"

"Right!"

Great, now she is in the song. She watched from the saw she stood on, enjoying it until he started bouncing on the saw.

"I told you I want no part in thiiiiiiiiis!" Melissa yelped as they went sailing up to the clock above. Jiminy started fooling with the clock, and she saw him march with the figurines that came out. He even tried to follow the pretty milkmaid inside, which got Melissa to laugh as the door slammed in his face.

Both guys seemed to be getting into it, as Pinocchio started walking and singing after Jiminy, "And always let your conscience be your guide!" He was so into it, he didn't notice the paint cans until he stepped in them, tripped, and fell off the counter.

"Look out Pinoke!" Jiminy yelled, both him and Melissa going down to a shelf.

"Oh God Pinocchio!" Melissa tried to run to the boy, but Jiminy stopped her and pulled her in between two books. Because after that racket, Geppetto was sure to be up and about.

"Who's there?!" Geppetto called out.

"It's me!" Pinocchio called back.

Melissa cried out, "Shush!" but it was pointless.

Geppetto had heard and had come to see who the invader was. What's more, he had a gun with him. Figaro followed closely, but as they looked high and around, they didn't see Pinocchio smiling right behind them. Jiminy and Melissa both tried to resist laughter.

"Here I am!"

Figaro screeched, jumping up into Geppetto's nightclothes, causing him to shoot up. Jiminy pulled Melissa out of the way as the bullet took a huge chunk out of the shelf. All the disturbing clocks went wild as well.

Melissa let out a breath at the near hit, "Holy Jesus."

Geppetto looked around wildly, "Who said that?! I- He looked down and saw Pinocchio, "Ohh, Pinocchio!" He rushed over and picked him up, "How did you get down here?"

"I fell," Pinocchio said simply.

"Oh you did-oh!" Geppetto gasped and stepped back at the realization, "Y-you're talking!" Geppetto seemed unable to believe this miracle, as he started rushing around, "Wake me up! Wake me up!" He grabbed a pitcher and doused his head in water. But he eventually accepted the idea once Pinocchio explained that a fairy came down and gave him life and two consciences.

"That didn't take long," Melissa remarked as Geppetto hugged the boy, saying his wish had come true.

"Well he's not going to question a miracle for long," Jiminy said.

"Fair enough, this is a fairy tale," Melissa said to herself, as she watched Pinocchio get introduced to Figaro and Cleo.

"This calls for a celebration!" Geppetto exclaimed, turning on every musical device he could find. Music of every kind filled the room as the new father and son danced.

The two consciences, meanwhile, were again left to their own devices.

Jiminy observed the commotion, laughing, "Oh boy, a party!" He leapt up onto a music box with two dancing figurines that went apart, twirled, and then came back. He tapped the figurines and asked to cut in, dancing with the lady and asking, "How about sitting out the next one babe, huh?"

Melissa turned her head at that remark. He's clearly been alone too long. She laughed once more as he got tangled up between the two dancers before flopping to the ground.

Melissa then turned her attention to Geppetto and Pinocchio again. She smiled as she watched the two danced. Even the animals got into the dance, with Pinocchio holding Figaro's paws and Geppetto swirling Cleo in her bowl. Melissa couldn't remember the last time she'd seen such a happy family. She didn't care if it was fiction, the warmth and love was so real to her right now.

She then saw Pinocchio start to play with fire. She snapped out of her pretty thoughts and looked around. Geppetto had gone to get toys for the boy, leaving the fire in his reach.

"God damnit!" Melissa leaped over, "Pinocchio, stop that right now! That is not good! She leaped up to the desk, but it was too late.

"Look Melissa!" Pinocchio said, nodding to the flame on his fingertip, "Pretty!"

"Ohhhh!" Geppetto dropped the toys and ran over, picking up his son and trying to put out the fire. Geppetto ran around, trying to find water. Jiminy tried to get his attention, having gathered some water in his hat, but ended up tripping over a pencil and getting a face full of water himself. They finally managed to get the water from Cleo's fishbowl (turning the poor fish's bowl black), and after that fiasco decided it was time for bed.

"Well, we were about as effective as a match under the sea," Melissa remarked as they remade their beds for the night while Geppetto and Pinocchio talked. This time she gathered a bunch of cloths together for a beanbag effect.

"It could've been a lot worse," Jiminy said, taking off his hat, jacket, and shoes, and getting into his new bed, a matchbox, "at least he didn't burn to death."

"Yeah, but you couldn't talk to Pinocchio about what temptation is, I couldn't tell him not to touch fire in time, and as a result he nearly gave his father a heart attack twice and lit himself on fire." She then laughed as she flopped onto her bed, "We really are official consciences. No one listens to us, and we aren't effective."

"Hey, didn't you call me old for saying that?" Jiminy asked, turning to her.

"No, I called you old for the way you said it, and because you are old Mister-Sixty-Two-Years-Old," Melissa corrected as she took off her jacket and hair tie.

Jiminy tried to look angry, but just laughed a little, "You're a bit of a cheeky kid."

"I'm seventeen, what do you expect?" she slipped out of the skirt so she could use it and the jacket for extra blankets, then laid down, "Night!"

"Night," Jiminy echoed with a laugh, settling down.

Melissa laid there and thought for a while. Whatever was going on, she knew she shouldn't be here, and definitely shouldn't be Pinocchio's conscience. Hell, she shouldn't be anyone's conscience! She would just have to try and lay low, and have as little impact on the movie as she remembered it. After that... well, hopefully things will be settled by then, and she'll be home.


	4. The Puppet Master

(Author's Note: Hey everyone! First off, I think there's a bit of confusion on what kind of story this is. First off, this is not a complete rewrite. I know that sounds weird giving the summary, but I'm mostly responding to a couple reviews wondering how this would be different. Well, aside from Melissa being in it not much. The movie parts will focus more on the crickets than on Pinocchio, since everyone should know what happens with him, but other than that the first six chapters (minus the first two I guess) are basically the movie summarized. After chapter six we'll be past the movie and go straight into telling new stories. There'll be new friends, new enemies, and all that. But first I have to get through the movie and establish Melissa in this world a bit.)

* * *

The school bell tolled, signaling the children to come and learn. The streets were soon filled with children, their shouts and laughter ringing out as they ran, played, and skipped on their way to school.

And out of the doorway of one shop came another young boy, an excited little wooden puppet who took in the sight before him. As Geppetto tried to put a vest on the bouncing boy, Pinocchio asked, "What are those?"

"Hm?" Geppetto looked up to see what he meant, and understood, "Oh those! They are your schoolmates. Girls and boys."

"Real boys?" Pinocchio asked his father.

Once he had his vest, his apple, and his books, he was off to school, thinking about what his father said. Someday, he'd be a real boy just like his future classmates. All he had to do was go to school and try to be the best real boy he could!

Unfortunately for the young marionette, things weren't going to be that easy. This morning had different plans for him.

* * *

Back inside Geppetto's shop, two little crickets slumbered peacefully. Melissa was entangled in the bed of mismatched cloths she'd gathered, her mind far from this world.

* * *

"Where the Hell are we?"

"How the Hell should I know Fred? You're the one driving!"

"Don't yell at me! I didn't write these directions!"

"I didn't either, I don't know where this stupid town where this stupid job is!"

"Oh for the love of-Listen Melanie..."

"Delaney, why don't you watch a movie? I'll give you some headphones."

"Okay Mel!"

* * *

Melissa's eyes opened at that. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath, and she let it out in one low breath. She got up, put on the skirt and jacket before realizing something wasn't right. She looked around, and realized it was way too quiet. She looked over and saw Geppetto and the animals, but no Pinocchio.

"Oh shit!" she picked up the hair tie and backpack and ran over to Jiminy, "Hey, hey wake up pops! We overslept!"

Jiminy seemed more inclined to keep sleeping than answer.

"God," Melissa looked around for something over-the-top she could use to wake him. Sure enough, there was a cymbal monkey just her size who's cymbals hadn't been put in yet.

"Thank you convenient things," she picked them up, and gave them three loud clashes together right by Jiminy's bed.

It had the desired effect, and soon Jiminy was bolt up in his matchbox bed, his head shaking from the wake up call. He put his hands to his head to stop it, then glared at her, "Now what-"

She didn't give him time to finish as she threw the cymbals down and put her backpack on, "No time for small talk! We overslept! Pinocchio's probably on his way to school by now!"

Jiminy's glare turned to wide eyes at the news, and he yelped as he got out of bed. Grabbing all his things he didn't even stop to put them on. He jumped to the floor, and headed for the door, putting everything on as he ran.

"Hey, wait up!" Melissa called out as she jumped down and ran after, trying to tie her hair in the ponytail.

As she caught up with him on the street, he was still tucking in his shirt, putting on his coat, and tying his ascot. He panted slightly as he ran, spoke, and dressed all at once, "Fine consciences, we turned out to be. Late the first day!"

"Well look, the children are still just going to school," Melissa pointed out all the passing children, "How much trouble can he get into?"

"Heh, I suppose you're right," Jiminy said. He stopped as he spotted something ahead, and pulled Melissa aside, "Oh boy, a parade!"

Melissa looked at him as three shadows passed by, "Seriously? We have to find Pinocchio!"

Jiminy started to lead her away as the 'parade' passed, "Well you don't want to get squashed, do you kid? I-"

They both turned around and looked back. That was no parade! That was Pinocchio, being led away from school by a fox and a cat.

"That's-That's Pinoke!" Jiminy said.

"I know, c'mon!" Melissa grabbed his hand and they tried to get Pinocchio's attention. Jiminy tried standing in front of them, but nearly got squashed.

Melissa helped him back up, "Come on, we have to get higher!" They both leapt onto the fox's tail, then hat. Jiminy held onto the edge with the handle of his umbrella, but Melissa just held onto the tattered old thing with her gloved hands. All the while they tried to get Pinocchio's attention.

"Hey Pinoke!"

"Pinocchio, up here!"

"HEY!" "HEY!"

Jiminy let out a loud whistle, getting even the attention of the two scoundrels.

"What was that?" the fox looked around.

Pinocchio looked up, "Oh, Jiminy and Melissa! What're you two doing up there?"

The fox tried to see, but the two were invisible to him. They weren't, however, invisible to the cat. So as the fox tried to reassure Pinocchio that he was seeing things, the cat whipped out a mallet and loomed in on the two.

As Jiminy tried to motion for Pinocchio to stop talking, Melissa noticed the shadow over them. She nudged Jiminy, but he'd already started turning. Lucky for them, they leapt off just in the nick of time, leaving the fox to take the blow meant for them.

The two crickets hid in a flower, and as the fox angrily tried to get the crushed hat off his head and the cat did a frantic dance of panic, they again tried to get Pinocchio's attention.

Pinocchio looked around, and found his two cricket consciences, "Oh guys! I'm going to be an actor!"

"All right son, now take it easy now," Jiminy said with a hand wave, "Remember what I said about temptation?"

"Uh-huh," Pinocchio said, remembering the confusing mess of a speech.

"That's what he was talking about," Melissa said, pointing at the still struggling fox.

Pinocchio shook his head, "Oh no, that's Mr. Honest John!"

"Honest John?!" Jiminy asked incredulously.

"Pinocchio, here's our next lesson," Melissa said, "If someone has to put 'honest' in their name, they usually aren't the kind of people you can trust."

"All right then," Jiminy said, "Here's what we'll tell them. You can't go to the theater, say thank you just the same, you're sorry, but you got to go to school."

"That sounds about right," Melissa said.

"Mm-hm," Pinocchio nodded, and then they all heard his name being called. The two crickets ducked back into the flower.

"Here they come Pinoke," Jiminy stuck his head out for some more instructions before finally going back inside, "Now you tell them."

"I still have a bad feeling," Melissa confessed.

"Don't worry," Jiminy reassured her, "Pinoke's a good boy."

"Yeah, but he's naive," Melissa pointed out.

"It'll work out, you'll see," Jiminy assured her.

Honest John spotted the boy, "Ah! There you are! Where were we? Ah yes! On to the theater"

"Bye Jiminy! Bye Melissa! Goodbye!" Pinocchio said, walking away with the two con animals.

"Goodbye? Huh? Goodbye?!" Jiminy cried out, and started chasing them.

"Well, didn't want to have to say I told you so, but maybe instead of this we should go to his father," Melissa suggested.

"His father, right!" Jiminy started to turn, but stopped, "No, that'd be snitchy. We have to go after him ourselves." And he ran off after them.

"It'd be... snitchy?" Melissa shook her head, "What is this, kindergarten?" Nevertheless, she followed after her counterpart. She didn't have to run long, as she found Jiminy standing on the path.

"I lost them," Jiminy said, bent over panting.

Melissa looked around the street, "They said they were going to the theater. Let's try and find the nearest theater."

"That'll take all day you know," Jiminy pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's the only lead we have," Melissa countered.

Jiminy nodded and stood up, "Then I guess we'd better get started."

They leapt up to the roofs and began searching for anything that resembled a theater. But after half the day was gone they began getting tired.

Melissa leapt down onto a cart, "Damn, this little town is a lot bigger when you're the size of a cricket."

"Yeah, if you were still human, this would be a lot easier," Jiminy commented.

"If I was still human I wouldn't be doing this," Melissa said. After a moment of silence she looked at him, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay kid," Jiminy said with a smile, "I know this is all new and weird."

"Yeah, but I can't be worrying about my problems right now," Melissa said, "Pinocchio's in trouble, and we have to find him."

"Melissa-" as Jiminy tried to tell her something, a shadow loomed over them, and they got out of the way just in time as the box came crashing down.

"Are you all right?" Jiminy asked her.

"Yeah, but these near death experiences are starting to wear me out," Melissa said, and then heard some men talking.

"So, where am I taking these clothes?"

"To that puppet show that just came to town, Stromboli's."

"A puppet show?" Jiminy said, then looked at Melissa, "You think?"

"It's the most likely thing," Melissa said, the thought sounding very familiar. She pointed out a crack in the box, big enough for two crickets to squeeze through, "Come on, they'll carry us backstage."

* * *

Sunset was coming fast as they approached the theater. They'd stayed quiet for the most part, though Jiminy did attempt to pass the time with conversation at some points.

"Is that necklace special?"

"What?"

"Well I always see you holding it, I was wondering if it was special," Jiminy explained.

Indeed even now she was holding the little heart. Melissa released it and wrapped her arms around her knees, "It was a gift, from my little sister Delaney. Just before I came here she gave it to me to make me feel better."

"About what?"

"We were moving, and I wasn't happy about it," Melissa said, "No one was."

"Then why move?"

Melissa snapped finally, "Because my step dad asked for a transfer to a different department, okay!?"

"All right, all right, no need to get snippy!" Jiminy held up his hands.

Melissa sighed, trying to reign in her temper, "I'm sorry. It's just, throughout the whole thing, it felt like Delaney was the only one that cared about how I felt." She was again holding the necklace, "She said it'd be like an adventure, and we'd see new places. She was so optimistic about new things. And now, all I can think of is how she'd love it here. She was the one obsessed with fairytales and fantasy. So, I just can't help but feel like there was a mix up."

"Well, if there is some kind of mix up, then isn't this for the best," Jiminy said, scooting closer, "I mean, your sister is very little right? I'm sure if she had been taken you'd be worried sick. Not to say your family isn't worried about you, but at least you're old enough to take care of yourself."

Melissa looked at him, then laughed, "That is true." Before he could respond she hugged him, "Thanks a lot pops."

At that moment they were thrown to the ground by a sudden jerk.

"Oh, guess we're here," Jiminy commented.

That was confirmed as the box was picked up and carried away.

"All right, we're going in," Melissa said, peeking out the crack.

* * *

Backstage of the show, there were dozens of puppets. Boy puppets, girl puppets, puppets of different nationalities and ethnicities. And among them was a special one, one that observed his fellow actors with interest. He poked them, lifted their arms, and tried to see if they'd move, but to no avail.

Close by was a big man, a near monster of a man. His big dust pan-sized hands worked to change the puppets for the final act of the show, but he still needed the fixed and tailored clothes.

"Ah, intermission is almost over!" Stromboli said, the impatience growing within him, "Where are the clothes I need?"

Fortuitously, a knock came on the door, "Signour Stromboli? I have your puppet clothes."

"Ah, excellente!" the large romani man opened the door and took the box, setting it on the nearest table.

"That'll be three gold coins sir," the man said.

"Oh sure, sure," Stromboli gave him three gold coins, which the man put in his pocket. As he started walking away, Stromboli flicked three fingers, and in an instant the three coins were dangling from his hand on the thinnest little strings ever. He closed the door and laughed, "They don't call me master puppeteer for no reason!"

"What a crook," Melissa commented as she and Jiminy slipped out of the box.

"Yes, the sooner we get Pinoke out of here the better," Jiminy said as they leapt down from the table and made their way to the puppets. It wasn't hard to spot the one that moved on its own.

"Pinocchio!" Melissa called to get his attention.

Pinocchio turned from the other puppets and spotted the two, "Oh hey guys! Are you here to see the show?"

"Uh, not quite," Jiminy said.

"Pinocchio, you missed your first day of school," Melissa gently chided him, "Not that I see how you were enrolled so quickly, but still!"

"Oh don't worry, I'll go tomorrow after the show," Pinocchio shrugged and smiled.

"You don't understand what's going on," Melissa said, "This is a wagon. This whole thing is a traveling show, they aren't staying."

"Then I'll do this till Mr. Stromboli leaves," Pinocchio reasoned.

"Oh I doubt that's what he has in mind," Jiminy said, then looked at the boy, "Now listen, this has really gone too far. You have to come home now."

"But I've already promised to stay here and work for Stromboli," Pinocchio said.

"What?! Why would you-" Jiminy lost his reason at that.

"Oh my God Pinocchio," Melissa slapped her forehead, losing her patience as well, "How could you do that? How could you be so-so... wooden headed?!"

"Hey, what is this?!" Stromboli had come up and seen the crickets, "An infestation? Not on my stage!" He raised a mallet.

"Look out!" Jiminy cried, grabbing Melissa and leaping away. They ran away, Stromboli in hot pursuit with the mallet. They managed to slip out to the other side of the curtains and ran through the crowd.

Stromboli thrust his head out, mallet raised, "Where are you? Where are y-" He then noticed the crowd, which was now staring at him. He straightened up, hid the mallet, and smiled, "E-hehehe, the show will resume very soon."

"Three," Melissa said with exasperation, "Tha'st THREE near death experiences in one day! Two involving mallets!"

Let s get to a higher spot so we don t make it four, Jiminy suggested.

Jiminy and Melissa tried to find a place they could stay where they wouldn't be squashed.

"Hey, there's a ledge on the bottom of the light for the lamppost," Jiminy pointed out.

"Great, balcony seats," Melissa said sarcastically. A few choice leaps, and they were up there. As they went up, they heard Stromboli come out and announce the show.

"Ladies and gentlemen! To conclude the performance of this great show, Stromboli, the master showman- that's me- by special permission of the management- that's me too- is presenting to you something you will absolutely refuse to believe."

Once they got to the light, Jiminy started swatting some moths away so their view would be clear. This gave Melissa another logic headache, so she decided to focus on the puppet master.

"Well, looks like a sell out," Jiminy commented.

"Introducing, the only marionette who can sing and dance absolutely without the aid of strings!" He muttered slightly under his breath, then continued, "The one and only Pinocchio!"

"Hmph," Jiminy shook his head, "What a build up."

"That's show biz for ya," Melissa shrugged, though looked equally annoyed.

The curtain opened, music blared, puppets pretended to play trumpets to announce the grand arrival. The final curtain rose and Pinocchio stood there at the top of some stairs. At first he appeared to have strings, but as he moved the strings didn't follow, and finally he started singing and walking down the stairs, "I got no strings to hold me do-" The poor kid tripped and fell to the bottom, getting his protruding nose stuck in a hole in the wooden floor.

As the audience roared with laughter, Jiminy wasn't feeling very sympathetic, "Go ahead, make a fool of yourself. Then maybe you'll listen to your consciences."

Stromboli started yelling at and shaking the kid for daring to trip, but when he realized the audience found the boy funny and endearing, he put him down and let the show continue. Jiminy stopped watching eventually, annoyed by all this. Melissa continued to watch though, being drawn to the cute performance. Pinocchio did indeed look very cute on stage, using his wooden body to dance like normal boy couldn't, but still having the sweet charm of a real child singing on stage. The audience was eating it up.

Then it got weird, as a new background dropped down, and a cute female Dutch puppet dropped down and started singing, "You have no strings your arms is free to love me by the Zuider Zee. Ya, ya, ya, if you would woo I'd bust my strings for you." Once she was done, a chorus of Dutch girl puppets took the stage and began dancing around Pinocchio.

"Okay... this is getting weird," Melissa commented, but Jiminy didn't look.

Now they switched to France, and likewise a saucy little French puppet came out and sung, "You've got no strings, comme ci comme ca. Your savoire-faire is ooh la la! I've got strings, but entre nous, I'd cut my strings for you!" Similarly a new chorus came and proceeded to do the can-can.

"I'm not sure, but I think Pinocchio's too young to see this, much less be in it," Melissa said slowly.

Jiminy finally turned his head to see what she meant, and instantly started watching the can-canning puppets with a big smile.

Melissa looked at him, "... You need to get laid."

After that display, they changed to Russia, and an appropriate girl puppet came out and sang, "Down where the Volga flows there's a Russian rendezvous. Where me and Ivan go but I'd rather go with you! Hey!" This time she was replaced with a line of Russian men, who started doing the Cossack Dance. Pinocchio began imitating them, but ended up entangling himself in the mess of string. To top the show he sung as he was surrounded by the puppet strings, "There are no strings on me!" The audience loved it, and began tossing coins up on stage to show how much they loved the living puppet boy.

Jiminy seemed astounded, "Hm! They like him. He's a success!"

"Of course, he's a puppet without strings," Melissa pointed out, "And on top of that he's adorable."

"Gosh, maybe we were wrong," Jiminy started wondering.

"We... what?" Melissa looked at him, "You can't be serious!"

"Why not? This is clearly something he's good at, and people love him," Jiminy pointed out, and then began to leap away from the lamppost.

"Wait, Jiminy!" Melissa followed him to the street, "You can't be thinking that! You- we're his consciences!"

Jiminy shook his head, "He won't be needing us anymore. What does an actor want with a conscience anyway?" He started walking away.

"Jiminy?" Melissa called out, stuck between him and the little boy behind them, "Jiminy! That'd be funnier if I knew you were kidding!" She sighed, "That's it, I'm doing what I should've done before."

Melissa took to the roof, hopping and running to find Geppetto's house. But a sudden downpour of rain deterred her.

"Aw shit," she ran beneath an overhanging edge of a chimney. She took off her backpack and pulled out a collapsible umbrella. She resumed her search and found Geppetto's house.

"Alright, you just go inside and explain what happened," Melissa said, "He'll be more worried about Pinocchio than anything." But when she looked inside, she saw no Geppetto. An uneaten dinner laid on the table.

"He must be out looking for him," Melissa thought aloud. It made sense; Pinocchio's been missing long enough. She sighed though, since now there was no one to tell. She held her umbrella high and tried again to make her way through the rain. She came across a small square, and amid the rain she swore she could see a familiar figure.

"Jiminy?" Melissa ran forward to see if she was right.

She found him on top of a pump spout, just looking out into nothing from the brim of his own umbrella. She took a breath and decided to try again, "Listen Jiminy, Pinocchio is a boy. He doesn't know what's right for him. The fairy put us in charge of him."

"Yeah well, he has his own life to live," Jiminy said simply, "And the best thing to do is accept that and get on with our lives."

"Damnit Jiminy, you aren't even trying!" Melissa lost her patience again, "If this is just your way of getting back to your old vagabond lifestyle then-"

"Hey what about you?!" Jiminy suddenly snapped, "You don't want to be here either, much less be his conscience!"

Melissa opened her mouth, but after a moment of silence just sighed, "Fine. You're right." She slump down and sat at the bottom of the pump, no longer caring how wet she got.

They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity, only raising their heads when they heard the sounds of a wagon approaching. It was Stromboli's wagon, and within was their young charge.

"Well, there he goes. Sitting in the lap of luxury. The world at his feet." Jiminy sighed, getting up and leaping down, "Oh well, we can always say we knew him when."

"Yeah, if I want to be called crazy," Melissa said, getting up herself.

Jiminy seemed to be having his own train of thought as he walked off, "I'll just go out of his life quietly." He turned and looked back at the cart.

Seeing the look on his face made Melissa feel bad for what she'd said. She walked up, "Jiminy, I'm sorry for assuming you didn't care about Pinocchio."

Jiminy looked at her, then smiled, "Oh that's alright. I'm sorry for insinuating the same about you."

Melissa smiled back, then looked at the cart, "You know, if we're really doing this we should at least wish him luck. We kind of ended it badly last time."

"Sure, why not?" Jiminy closed his umbrella and began running to the wagon with Melissa close behind.

They both hopped onto the wagon, and slipped through the cracks in the door. The inside of the wagon was dark, and they could barely see. Jiminy took off his hat and called out, "Pinocchio? Pinocchio? It's us, your old friends Jiminy and Melissa remember?"

"Jiminy! Melissa! Gee I'm glad to see you!" And the two crickets could see why. The poor lad was locked inside a birdcage and hung up high.

"Pinocchio!" Jiminy and Melissa shouted at the same time, running and leaping up to the birdcage.

"What's happened?" Jiminy asked, "What did he do to you?"

"He was mad, he said he was going to push my face in everyone's eye!" Pinocchio tried to explain, "And just because I'm a gold brick, he's gonna chop me into firewood!"

"Oh is that so?" Jiminy asked.

"Don't worry kid, we're here now and we're getting you out and back to your father," Melissa reassured him.

Pinocchio smiled at that.

Jiminy walked over to the lock, and started taking off his hat and jacket.

"What are you doing?" Melissa asked.

"Getting him out," Jiminy explained, then held out his jacket, hat, and umbrella, "Hold these please."

Melissa blinked, then took the things as Jiminy tried to slip into the lock.

"Are you saying you're a lock pick too?" Melissa asked.

"Sure! Why this is just as easy as-" Jiminy didn't finish as he fell in.

Melissa and Pinocchio peeked inside to see what he was doing.

"Kinda rusty... Needs a little oil," Jiminy said and his voice echoed. A few creaks and squeaks could be heard, and an ominous twang made Melissa step back just in time as Jiminy came flying out. She saw him dangling by his pants from a spring that caught on the birdcage.

"Are you okay?" Melissa asked.

Jiminy laughed a little, "Must be one of the old models."

"You mean you can't open it?" Pinocchio asked.

"Yeah, looks pretty hopeless," Jiminy slid down, taking his thing from Melissa as he said, "It'll take a miracle to get us out of here."

"Gee..." Pinocchio's voice reflected his despair.

Melissa was suddenly having another pang of nostalgia. She tried to remember... Wasn't this around the point where the blue fairy came in and explained the lying thing? Well, since the others had given up hope, she waited to see if Miss Deus Ex Machina would come. The storm raged on for another half hour before finally clearing up, and she saw the starry sky.

She looked to the boys, who were still miserable.

"Fine consciences we turned out to be," Jiminy remarked sadly.

Pinocchio was sniffling and crying as he said, "I should've listened to you guys."

"No, it was my fault," Jiminy insisted, "I shouldn't have walked out on you."

While Melissa agreed on both parts, she felt the weight of responsibility too, "No guys, I should've gone with my first instinct and gotten Geppetto."

That seemed to only make Pinocchio sadder, "Guess I'll never see my father again."

"Oh, buck up son," Jiminy tried to be encouraging, "It could be worse. Be cheerful. Like me," he said as he could barely smile.

Pinocchio continued to cry, a tear falling on Jiminy and making him even wetter.

"Oh, take it easy son," Jiminy took out a handkerchief and held it to Pinocchio's nose, "Blow." Pinocchio did so, and then Jiminy did the same.

Melissa smiled and looked at Pinocchio, "Now listen, things will be okay. We aren't going to let anything happen to you, promise."

Jiminy, trying to regain his optimism, looked outside, "Oh well, it stopped raining anyway."

They all looked outside, and at the same time they realized what they were seeing.

"Hey! That star again! The-The lady! The fairy!" Jiminy shouted, leaping to a higher bar as Pinocchio fell to the bottom of the cage.

"Oof!" Melissa cried out as she hit the bottom with Pinocchio.

"What'll she say?" Pinocchio looked frantic at the moment, "What'll I tell her?"

"Try the truth!" Melissa suggested, knowing the advice would be ignored.

"She's right, you gotta tell the truth!" Jiminy said, ducking into a bird feeder. Pinocchio tried to duck down, as if it'd hide him better than just standing up straight. Melissa, however, went right up to the bars and watched the fairy flicker in with her familiar sound effect.

"Why Lady Melissa!" The Blue Fairy said as if this situation was a shock.

Pinocchio opened his eyes and looked between his legs at the fairy as she turned to him, "Pinocchio!"

"Uh-heh, hello!" he tried to smile and took off his hat in greeting.

"Sir Jiminy!" The Blue Fairy finished getting everyone's attention as Jiminy stood up from the feeder.

"Well! This is a pleasant surprise," Jiminy said, laughing nervously as he lifted his hat and dropped several birdseeds in the process.

"Pinocchio, why didn't you go to school?" The Blue Fairy got right to the point.

"School? Well I-uh-" Pinocchio tried to figure it out.

"Go ahead, tell her," Jiminy insisted.

"Yeah, go ahead, it's okay," Melissa patted him on the shoe.

"I was going to school, until I met somebody," Pinocchio started.

"Met somebody?" The Blue Fairy asked.

"Yeah! A two headed monster, with big green eyes!" Pinocchio explained, but stopped as his nose grew several inches.

"Oh this'll be good," Melissa said, sitting back against the cage and deciding to let the scene play out. She watched as Pinocchio continued his tall tale, and the nose began to grow buds. The Blue Fairy asked about Melissa and Jiminy, and as Jiminy tried to get Pinocchio to stop he just ended up getting caught on the end of the ever-growing nose. It got to the point where a nest formed and two little birds hatched out of eggs. Melissa couldn't help laughing at that.

"Oh, oh look! My nose!" Pinocchio shouted, and Melissa stopped laughing at his distress, "What's happened?"

"Perhaps you haven't been telling the truth Pinocchio," The Blue Fairy asked.

"Perhaps?!" Jiminy asked incredulously from the bird nest.

"Oh but I have! Every single word!" the nose then turned to fall, the leaves turning red and the birds flying off.

"Oh please help me, I'm awful sorry!" Pinocchio begged.

"You see Pinocchio," The Blue Fairy explained, "A lie keeps growing and growing until it's as plain as the nose on your face."

"She's right," Melissa piped up, "So let's be honest here, okay?"

"I'll never lie again, honest I won't!" Pinocchio insisted.

"I said let's be honest here," Melissa said.

"Please Your Honor- er, I mean, Miss Fairy," Jiminy corrected himself as he appealed to the Blue Fairy, "Give him another chance. For my sake, will ya, huh?"

"I'll forgive you this once," The Blue Fairy agreed with a smile, "But remember, a boy who won't be good might just as well be made of wood."

"We'll be good, won't we?" all three said at once.

"Very well, but this is the last time I can help you," The Blue Fairy warned, and tapped the end of Pinocchio's nose. With a burst of light she disappeared, Pinocchio's nose was normal, and the cage was opened.

"My God her entrances and exits are blinding," Melissa rubbed her eyes.

Wasting no more time, they got out of the cage and snuck out of the still moving wagon. They ran as soon as they touched the ground, and hiding behind a rock they watched the wagon ride off.

"Toodle-oo Stromboli," Jiminy softly called out.

"Bye-bye," Melissa followed suit.

"Goodbye Mr. Strombo-!" Pinocchio shouted as Jiminy and Melissa hushed him.

"Let's go, before something else happens," Jiminy suggested, and the trio started making their way back to Collodi and far from Stromboli.


	5. The Island

(Author's Note: Here it is, the much anticipated Pleasure island chapter! To be honest I'm not too fond of this chapter. In the movie the part was very short and most of the action revolved around Pinocchio. But whatever, I still like it somewhat, and I hope you all will too.)

* * *

"No sir, nothing can stop me now!" Pinocchio declared as they marched through the streets, "I'll make good this time!"

"You'd better," Jiminy said as the two crickets hopped alongside him.

"I will, I'm going to school!" Pinocchio insisted.

"That's the stuff Pinoke!" Jiminy smiled.

"Yeah, but first lets get you home," Melissa suggested.

"I'd rather be smart than be an actor!" Pinocchio continued.

Melissa laughed at that, "Good for you kid!"

"Come on, let s race home," Jiminy suggested. The other two liked that idea, and soon the three friends were racing home.

"Whew! What a day," Jiminy said.

"I can't wait to get home," Melissa said as she caught up to Jiminy, "it's getting so late, I just want to lay down and sleep. But first, dinner. We haven't eaten all day and- what?" She turned to look at Jiminy, "What are you staring at?"

"Did you just call it home?" Jiminy asked.

Melissa stopped, "N-No! I meant Pinocchio's home! That's all I meant."

"Uh-huh," Jiminy nodded slightly, but was smiling.

"What?! I-" Melissa then noticed something, "Why hasn't Pinocchio caught up yet?"

"Huh?" Jiminy looked down the street, "What? Where is he?"

"Oh God," Melissa ran back the way they came.

"Pinoke! Oh Pinoke! Now where do you suppose he-" Jiminy stopped mid sentence, because the both of them spotted Pinocchio being led away yet again by Honest John and Gideon.

"Pinocchio!" Jiminy shouted.

"Ohhh- that boy!" Melissa stamped her foot.

"Hey! Come back!" Jiminy and Melissa followed after the trio.

Eventually their following led them to a donkey-drawn coach filled to the brim with children. Little boys, to be specific. Boys in it, boys on it, boys clutching on the side. The fox and cat brought Pinocchio to the front, handed him to the coachman in red, and took a sack of gold in return.

"Hurry Jiminy," Melissa grabbed his hand, "We have to get onboard."

The two jumped on, but before they could find a safe place the coach started moving. The two lost their balance and began to fall. Quickly, Jiminy grabbed Melissa and hooked the handle of his umbrella to the hoop at the end of a lantern before they fell to the ground and got trampled by the wheels.

"Hold on Melissa!" Jiminy opened his umbrella as Melissa wrapped her arms around his waist, hoping to God nothing would slip. Jiminy grabbed Melissa and lifted her up to the open umbrella, and Melissa did the same. They were now sitting, clustered, inside the umbrella.

Despite the situation, Melissa commented, "Strong umbrella."

"Yeah," Jiminy agreed, coughing on the kicked up dirt clouds. He looked at her, "Well-" cough cough, "-here we go again!"

"No kidding," Melissa agreed, coughing herself, "I-" cough, "-Can't believe that boy!" After three more coughs she continued, "When I find him I-" She stopped when she went into a coughing fit. They silently agreed not to talk for the rest of the trip.

They passed through a cave, and after three minutes in near darkness they came out the other end. The dirt path became wooden as they rode up a dock. There on the dock was a steamboat filled with even more children.

"Holy..." Melissa blinked at the sight. After waiting for the kids to get off, they followed after onto the boat. They tried to find Pinocchio in this mess, but the boat was so crowded they could only see the tops of their heads.

"Well, guess we're in this all the way," Jiminy said as they sat on the roof of the cabin.

"I suppose," Melissa sighed, looking out into the water.

"Hey don't worry," Jiminy said solemnly, "We got him back before, and we'll do it again."

Melissa nodded, "I know." 'The movie can't go on otherwise,' she reasoned, but that didn't ease her apprehensions.

It took another half an hour to get to their destination, an island in the middle of nowhere, and again they passed through a cave to get in. Once they made it to a drawbridge, it lowered for the new arrivals. The children cheered as they rushed inside. The whole time the coachman ushered them in, smiling at the young children like a creepy pedophile.

"Let's hurry before we fall behind," Jiminy said, jumping down with Melissa and rushing through the open drawbridge.

Melissa and Jiminy had to stop and stare for just a moment. The colors and loud upbeat music of the amusement park greeted them, and the smell of delicious treats was in the air. Balloons floated everywhere, fireworks shot in the sky, and all around kids were laughing and screaming with joy as they rode all the rides. A horrifying clown face above inviting all inside to stuff their faces, pick fights, and whatnot. This was literally a playground for temptation.

"Wow, look at how big this place is," Melissa said.

"I know," Jiminy looked around, his own apprehensions growing, "I mean, where to start?"

"Maybe the Ferris wheel?" Melissa suggested, That s where I d go.

"The what?" Jiminy blinked a little in confusion.

"You don't... forget it," Melissa waved a hand, then pointed, "How about that?"

Jiminy followed her gaze and jumped, "Tobacco Row?! Come on, if he's there we have to stop him!"

As they ran up they heard the announcer saying, "Tobacco Row, Tobacco Row! Get you cigar, cigarettes, and chew of tobacco. Come in and smoke your heads off!" Inside they saw robotic Indians holding boxes of cigars and tossing them at children, who grabbed at the cigars as if they were candy. All around there was smoke filling the air.

Melissa coughed as second hand smoke filled her lungs, "Great, more suffocation." She and Jiminy tried to avoid the feet of the other naughty children as they searched for their naughty child.

"Pinocchio!" Jiminy yelled, coughing as well, "Pinocchio!" He pulled Melissa out of the way of a bare foot, "There's something phony about all this."

"You're telling me," Melissa said, "I'm still trying to figure out why that coachman would take all these children to an amusement park to get stoned."

More like try to remember. Melissa couldn't, for the life of her, remember this part of the movie, much less the motives behind the bad guy's actions.

"I don't know, but we've got to get him out of here!" Jiminy said.

"Lets get out of Tobacco Row, I don't think he's here," Melissa said, "I saw a place called the Rough House. Let s look there."

"Yeah, let s go," they gladly moved out of the vicinity of Tobacco Row. Outside the establishment there was an animatronics thug shouting, "The rough house! It's the roughest toughest joint you'll ever see. Come in and pick a fight boys!"

They slipped inside, and immediately had to leap out of the way as the boys tackled, pounded, kicked, and just beat each other around. They leaped onto a giant pile of discarded food and food containers as they tried to see if their little wooden headed boy was in here.

"Pinocchio!" Melissa shouted, "Pinocchio if you're in here, you are in big trouble!"

"Pinocchio! Your father's probably worried out of his mind!" Jiminy shouted.

"Hey, what are those voices?" one nearby kid asked.

"It's those bugs! They sound like parents!" another spotted the two crickets.

"Uh, lets go, I don't think he's here," Melissa said.

"Couldn't agree more," Jiminy said quickly before running out with Melissa. Behind them, kids threw all sorts of trash at them; cans, ice cream cones, plates, mugs, and other such items.

"Should I count that as another near death experience?" Melissa asked as she dodged a plate that broke on impact.

"Yeah, I'd say this counts," Jiminy said, jumping to avoid a can.

After running for a long time they finally stopped.

"Damnit, that kid could be anywhere," Melissa said as they wandered the park.

"Now calm down-"

"Why? He obviously doesn't care that we're both worried sick, and his father's probably searching the town high and low for him," Melissa snapped.

"Melissa, I know you're tired and hungry, but try to keep calm," Jiminy said through a tightened mouth, trying to quell his own rising temper at the moment.

A loud gurgle came from Melissa, and she held her stomach, "Well what about you? You haven't eaten all day either."

"No, but I once went three days without eating anything, so don't worry," Jiminy waved a hand at her question.

"Great, but my stomach isn't as hardened as yours," Melissa remarked. She then realized something, "Hey, is the park... quieter?"

Jiminy looked around. Indeed, almost all the boys were missing.

"How long have we been looking?" Jiminy wondered.

"This is getting really serious," Melissa said, forgetting her hunger.

"Right, let s find Pinocchio and get out," Jiminy nodded, and the two set off to search the nearly deserted park.

They came across another attraction past the roller coaster and the carousel. The opening arch said, "Model Home. Open For Destruction." The white building past it looked like it would've made a very nice and beautiful home were it not for the fact that it was trashed. Plants were uprooted and strewn about, statues toppled over, windows were smashed in, paint was randomly splashed on the walls, and in front of the house the remains of a fire were starting to die. There was even a piano at the bottom of the front stairs, all smashed and ruined as if let go at the top and left to fall. And that was only describing the outside.

"How the Hell is that coachman paying for all this? Is doing whatever this is really so profitable that he can rebuild this whole park?" the impracticals of this world were starting to get to Melissa again. She looked around, "I don't hear anything. I think this part is deserted."

"Let s check to be sure," Jiminy insisted, going ahead without another word.

"Jiminy-" Melissa started, then sighed and followed, her vague recollections telling her that this would be fruitless.

The two crickets had completely lost track of time. They felt like they'd been searching for days, yet the sky remained dark. By now the park was empty, everything was broken down, and the lights were off.

"Pinocchio!" Jiminy shouted, whistling too, "Pinocchio!"

Melissa followed behind, snacking on a breakfast bar. At a look from Jiminy she said, "What? A lot's happened today, I forgot I had these! Geez, I already offered you some..."

"I said I didn't want any," Jiminy now seemed to be the irritated one. He looked around, looking concerned, "Where is everybody? Place is like a graveyard."

"Please don't say that," Melissa said, horrid visions coming to her mind.

"I'm just saying, I don't like the looks of this," Jiminy said, and then called out again, "Pinocchio! Hey, where are you?"

Amid the desolate buildings Melissa saw a light on. It was in a building shaped like a giant eight ball. She ran up and got Jiminy's attention, "Hey Jiminy, what about that building?"

Jiminy looked, "Oh, we haven't tried there yet." It took them awhile to get there while getting through all the trash in the street, but they made it under the western swinging doors. They looked around the near-deserted pool hall.

"What's a matter, losing your grip?" a voice said. They turned and froze.

On one table was Pinocchio, holding a cue in his hands and a cigar in his mouth. The kid looked sick, but not sick enough to stop playing apparently as he lined up the cue to the eight ball.

"Pinocchio!"

Pinocchio missed and ended up tearing the cloth on the table. He made a faceplant and smashed his cigar as well.

Jiminy jumped up and onto the eight ball and continued scolding him, with Melissa following him, "So this is where we find you!"

"Pinocchio, you should be ashamed of yourself!"

"How do you expect to be a real boy?!"

"What do you think your father would think if he saw you now?"

"Look at yourself! Smoking! Playing poo-OW!" that last one he tried say as he kicked the eight ball, hurting himself.

"Now you're coming with us right now, no arguments!"

"Hey, who're the beetles?" the other boy in the room asked, picking up Jiminy by the collar of his coat.

"Hey now-put me down!" Jiminy demanded as he twisted and turned in the boy's grip, but only managed to tangle himself in his own coat.

"He's my conscience, and so is she," Pinocchio pointed at Melissa, "they tell me what's right and wrong."

"Not that you listen," Melissa muttered.

"What?!" Lampwick dropped Jiminy onto the table, and as Melissa ran over to see if he was okay he continued, "You mean to tell me you take orders from a couple of grasshoppers?"

"Grasshoppers?!" Jiminy shouted in indignation, then stood on the eight ball again to scold the red headed boy, "Look here you-you impudent young pup! It wouldn't hurt you to take orders from your grassho- er, your conscience! If you have one!"

"Yeah yeah yeah sure," Lampwick said sarcastically, shooting the nine ball from his back towards the eight ball and Jiminy, "Screw ball in the corner pocket."

Jiminy fought to keep his balance on the rolling ball and to not fall off, but it proved meaningless as he fell down the corner pocket.

"Jiminy!" Melissa looked down the hole, but saw he was unharmed. Just roughed up from the surprise attack.

Lampwick began laughing, Melissa turned to him, "Be quiet you-you little-"

She was stopped by Jiminy, who'd come back up and looked fit to kill, "Why-Why you-you young hoodlum!" He threw his umbrella and jacket aside and took a fighting stance, "I'll knock your block off!"

"Jiminy, this is a serious situation," Melissa said as Lampwick began laughing all over again.

"I am serious!" Jiminy said, moving as if to prepare his body for a fight, then stomped toward the impudent red head, "Why I'll take you apart and put you back together-"

"Oh don't hurt him Jiminy!" Pinocchio asked, grabbing Jiminy by the back of his vest, "He's my best friend!"

"Why I'll-" Jiminy froze at that, turning his anger abruptly at Pinocchio, "You best friend?! And what am I? Just your conscious!" He turned and gathered his discarded items, "Okay! That settles it!" He slammed his hat so hard it was crushed and compressed. He continued walking away.

Melissa picked up his umbrella, "Wait a second Jiminy-"

"No, no more waiting, no more seconds!" Jiminy said, snatching his umbrella from her.

"B-But Jiminy-" Pinocchio tried to add.

"You buttered your bread, now sleep in it!" Jiminy yelled, putting his coat on backwards.

"Um, huh?" Melissa blinked.

Jiminy just walked away, right into another pocket. As he reached the end, he hit the balls and went flying to the door.

"Jiminy!" Melissa jumped down to the floor to see if he was all right as Lampwick began laughing again.

"Ha ha ha! Go on, laugh, make a jackass out of yourself!" Jiminy continued his angry rant, "I'm through! This is the end!"

"But Jiminy," Pinocchio said, "Lampwick says a guy only lives once."

But Jiminy was already exiting the building, muttering under his breath, "Lampwick! Hmph!"

Melissa again faced the decision of the two guys. She again raced after Jiminy, since at least for now she knew where Pinocchio was.

"Jiminy!" Melissa called, "Jiminy Cricket, stop!"

"What?!" Jiminy turned on her angrily.

She took in his appearance, then took off his hat to decompress it, "For starters, fix yourself up."

"Why?!" Jiminy asked loudly, though he did take off his coat and put it on right, "We don't need these clothes anymore, we aren't anyone's consciences."

"Jiminy, you're overreacting," Melissa said with a slight smile.

"Oh, what? You felt nothing when he called Lampwick his best friend?" Jiminy asked as he angrily tried to fix his collar but couldn t.

"Not really, kids make friends as easily as they change socks," Melissa said, then laughed, "Actually, probably more easily."

"Hmph," Jiminy wasn't convinced, and seemed even madder that his outrage wasn't shared, "Well sorry, guess my heart isn't as hardened as yours."

He snatched his hat back and walked away, leaving Melissa looking stunned. But only for half a minute. She caught up to him, her own look of fury on her face, and she said as she followed him, "Look here Mr. Cricket! We did not traipse around this God forsaken park trying to find that little troublemaker just for you to have a hissy fit and quit! I promised Pinocchio we wouldn't let anything happen to him, so I'm not leaving here without Pinocchio, and that's final!"

"Fine, do what you like, you can be his conscience, provided he'll listen to you and not that Lampwick," Jiminy said the boy's name with distaste and anger. He started jumping up the stairs, "Well I've had enough of this! I'm taking the next boat out of here." He rapped on the door, "Open up that door, open up! I want to go home!"

"What home?" Melissa glared at him, "You quit remember?"

As Jiminy glared back, they both heard something. It sounded like animals just outside the door.

"What's that?" Melissa asked, "Sounds like... donkeys braying."

They saw a crack and, seeing they could go straight through the small cavernous crack, walked through it. They came through the other side and saw what was making the noise. It was definitely donkeys, countless numbers of them braying from inside crates. The crates were being taken on board the same steamboat that had brought them to the island. The coachman in red was instructing several shadowed men (or maybe they were wearing black, Melissa and Jiminy couldn't be sure) to keep loading them.

"Where'd all the donkeys come from?" Jiminy wondered.

Melissa was starting to remember, but it carried no happy feelings. She was beginning to feel terrified, and the realization was dawning on her.

Along with that there was an odd group of clothed donkeys. They would be brought before the coachman and he'd ask, "What's you name?" They'd just bray back before being stripped and shoved into crates.

One little donkey, when asked, said softly, "Alexander."

"Hmm, so you can talk?" the coachman frowned at the little donkey.

"Y-Yes sir," Alexander said, and then broke down crying, "I wanna go home to my mama!"

"Take him back!" the coachman shouted, grabbing the poor creature by his ears and tail and throwing him into a pen with some other talking donkeys. They all began to beg and plead with the coachman, but were brought to an abrupt silence with the crack of a whip.

"Quiet! You boys have had your fun. Now pay for it!"

"Boys?" Jiminy asked, realization coming to him too, "So that's what- Pinocchio!" He ran back through the crack.

Melissa had already started running back to Pinocchio, so already had a head start. She had to get to Pinocchio, before he became a jackass! She heard footsteps running behind her and turned, "What are you doing here?"

"Going to save Pinocchio, what else?" Jiminy said.

"Thought you quit," Melissa pointed out, "Thought you had enough of this."

"Well I was wrong, okay? Happy?" Jiminy asked.

"Fair enough," Melissa sighed, and then they continued towards the pool house.

"I hope we aren't too late," Jiminy said worriedly. They both became alarmed when they heard braying coming from the pool house.

"Freaking jinx!" Melissa yelled as they ran into the pool house.

"Pinocchio!" Jiminy called out.

"Jiminy! Melissa! Help!" they heard Pinocchio wail.

"Quick Pinoke, the kids, the boys! They're all donke- Oh! You too?!" Jiminy gasped as he saw Pinocchio had already grown big gray ears and a tail to match.

"Come on, there's no time to lose then," Melissa shouted, ushering the boys out. As they left Melissa heard frantic braying behind her, and she turned to see a donkey hopping and kicking in a mad panic.

"Lampwick..." she whispered, and froze for a moment as she looked at him. She looked at him, then at the retreating figures of her friends. With one last regretful look at the poor jackass, she started leaping after them to catch up.

They ran through the park, trying to navigate their way before full transformation set in. They managed to get beyond the limits of the park and into the wild, rocky part of the island.

"This way Pinoke, it's the only way out!" Jiminy ushered him towards a path, which eventually led all of them to climbing rocks.

"Hurry up!" Jiminy said as he and Melissa held onto his tail, "before they see us!"

Melissa kept looking back, wondering if the coachman's henchmen were following them at all. She wondered if they'd gotten to Lampwick yet. She wondered what kind of a sick man the coachman was, or if he was a man at all.

They stopped at the edge, staring down into the sea.

"We have to jump kid," Melissa said, "come on."

The trio jumped at the same time, splashing into the sea and escaping a horrible fate.


	6. The Whale

(Author's Note: Hey everyone, we're finally at the last chapter that has anything to do with the events of the movie. After this chapter will be the new stories I promised. -Response to reviews: In response to a question I've been seeing in the reviews, as I said in the summary and first chapter notes I don't have any plans of Jiminy and Melissa being a couple. That might change, I might write a sequel for anyone who wants them to be a couple, but I'm not promising anything for this story.  
-Notes for previous chapter: Also, regarding the brief dialogue about the Ferris wheel in the last chapter. The Ferris wheel was actually not invented until 1893. Granted there is a precursor called The Great Wheel, but it was nowhere on the large scale of a modern Ferris wheel. So I don't think the wheel in the movie was a Great Wheel, it was too big for that. Thus I had Jiminy being confused when Melissa says Ferris Wheel.)

* * *

"Listen Melanie, I know you'd rather not move, none of us do. But would you rather that good-for-nothing ex find you?"

"I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about the girls."

"Melissa's almost eighteen, she'll be out in the world soon enough."

"That's what worries me..."

God, I don't want to hear anymore of this. I wish I could be anywhere else, anywhere, just not with her...

* * *

Melissa woke with a start. She looked around and remembered where she was; in the middle of the sea, on the tip of Pinocchio the wooden donkey boy's tail. She must've passed out or something, because she was on Jiminy's back as he kicked.

"Jiminy?" Melissa looked down at him.

Jiminy looked at her out of the corner of his eye, "Oh good, you're awake! Was afraid we'd lost you for a second." He looked at the shore, "We've been at it for about an hour, but we're getting close to shore, I think."

Melissa was silent for a moment, and then she hugged him, "Thanks for coming back."

Jiminy smiled, then together they started kicking for shore.

Pinocchio eventually reached the rocky wall of the shore they'd seen, and began climbing. Jiminy and Melissa, unable to do much else, just held on.

When they reached the top, Pinocchio picked up his tail and made sure his two friends were fine. He placed them beside him, "Jiminy, Melissa, you all right?"

"Sure, thought we'd never make it. Certainly feels good to be back on dry land," Jiminy said, dripping wet and pouring even more water on himself as he lifted his hat. Shaking himself he said, "Come on, let s get home."

"That is the best idea I've heard from anyone," Melissa said, wringing out her hair and shaking her backpack. As they walked she checked inside to see how bad the damage was. But to her surprise, everything seemed perfectly fine. The few books she had seemed unharmed, her other breakfast bars were still edible, and everything was dry and fine.

"Huh, guess that fairy did more than just change the design," Melissa commented, taking out two breakfast bars.

Jiminy looked inside, "Say, that's some bag."

"Yeah," Melissa agreed, giving Jiminy a breakfast bar.

Jiminy looked at the breakfast bar in his hands. He then looked at Melissa, "Look Melissa, about what I said, back on the island-"

"Forget it," Melissa waved a hand as she started eating another breakfast bar. She didn't look at him as they spoke.

"No no, I shouldn't have said that," Jiminy insisted, "You don't have a hardened heart. I was just-"

"I know," Melissa said insistently, crumpling the saran wrap of the breakfast bar and throwing it into her backpack.

"Well, I'm sorry," Jiminy said quietly.

Melissa still didn't look at him as he spoke, but after a pause smiled at him, "Thanks."

Pinocchio pointed, "Look! Home!"

The two crickets looked ahead. There was the town right ahead. They began running to get to Geppetto's shop. Racing through dark, quiet crooked streets and turning all the corners they remembered, they were home at last.

"Father! I'm home!"

"We're home, Mr. Geppetto! Home!"

Melissa wasted no time yelling. She was starting to get a sinking feeling.

As the boys rang the bell and knocked on the door, they also began to realize something wasn't quite right.

Jiminy peeked through the window, and called them over, "Pinoke, Melissa. Come here." As they walked to the window he looked back, "Look."

They looked as well. The entire shop was deserted and dark. Dust had settled all around it, and there was no sign of life. Even the animals were gone.

The boys sat on the stoop, looking like the world had been taken from them. Melissa stayed on the windowsill, trying to absorb this feeling. She knew what was coming. Why did she have to know what was coming?

"Maybe something awful happened to him," Pinocchio said in a sad voice.

"Don't worry son, he probably hasn't gone far," Jiminy said.

'You have no idea how far he's gone,' Melissa thought. But now she had to think. Should she tell them? They'd want to know how she knew, but she couldn't think of how else they'd find out. 'Wait, how'd they find out before, without me?' Melissa wondered, looking up to the sky as she tried to remember.

At that moment, a shining dove flew overhead and dropped a rolled up note before flying off.

Melissa's jaw drop went unnoticed as the boys looked at the note.

"Hey, it's a message," Jiminy took out a pair of reading glasses and read the note.

"What's it say?" Pinocchio asked.

"It's about your father," Jiminy informed him.

"And once again it's deus ex machina to the rescue," Melissa said loudly, another logic headache tormenting her, "Didn't she say she couldn't help us anymore?"

"Where is he?" Pinocchio asked, completely ignoring Melissa.

"For the love of- he's in the belly of a whale!" Melissa said.

"Why it says here he went looking for you and he was swallowed by a-" Jiminy looked at Melissa.

"Go on, a whale named Monstro," Melissa said.

Jiminy read on, "A whale named Monstro."

"Swallowed by a whale? Oh, he's-" Pinocchio was beginning to despair.

"Bu-but wait! He's alive!" Jiminy made a point of assuring the distressed boy.

"Alive? Where?" Pinocchio asked.

"Inside the whale," Jiminy read on, "At the bottom of the sea."

"Great, like we didn't get enough sea..." Melissa said, understanding the sinking feeling now. She then realized Pinocchio had gotten up and started running back in the direction of the sea, "Pinocchio!"

Jiminy looked up from the note, "Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm going to find him!"

Jiminy ran after him, but Melissa lingered for a second. She took a deep breath, and breathed out, "Shit. I'm gonna get swallowed by a whale, aren't I?" She then chased after them.

They followed after the wooden boy, trying to talk sense into him. Melissa went first.

"Pinocchio, how do you think you can get your father back?"

"I don't know, but I gotta try!"

"The sea's a huge, HUGE place. The odds of you finding the right whale before your father dies are pretty slim."

"I can't just give up. He's my father!"

"You know you're just gonna float right? You're made of wood, and a light puppet like you would just float on the surface."

"I'll weight myself down!"

"Have I mentioned this is crazy?!"

They were just about out of town again, when a familiar voice rang out.

"Oh Pinocchio! Back so soon from Pleasure Island?"

The trio turned to see Honest John and Gideon, looking surprised but happy.

"It's those scoundrels," Melissa said, "Remember Pinocchio, they're the one's who sent you to Pleasure Island. Don't trust them!"

"Did you enjoy your trip- Oh my, what happen to you my good boy?" Honest John gasped, running up and touching Pinocchio's ears and tail.

"Well I-" Pinocchio tried to speak.

"Oh my my my, I see things have gotten worse! Never fear boy, my friend and I happen to know a man who can get these taken care of."

"But I have to-"

"Don't worry about paying, after you're all better you can work off your debt no problem!"

"But-"

"Come now, we have to hurry before it's too late!"

"No!" Pinocchio shouted suddenly, glaring at the con-animals, "No, I'm not coming with you! I have to save my father, and that's that!" With that, he started running away with the two crickets.

But Honest John was not so easily deterred, "Quick Gideon, let's get that little wooden boy! He'll make a great slave for our old pal-"

"Did you say slave?" the two were suddenly grabbed from behind by a muscular anthropomorphic mastiff dog dressed as a police officer.

"Uh n-n-no! We didn't say slave," Honest John said, "I said save! We have to save that boy!"

"You know, there have been a lot of disappearances of little boys recently, and you two match a description of possible suspects we've been looking into, as well as suspects for a string of other crimes," the dog said, his eyes never leaving their faces.

"Uh, really now?" Honest John was visibly sweating by now, "I-Imagine that Gideon."

Gideon nodded dumbly in agreement.

The mastiff narrowed his eyes, "I think you two should come with me." Without waiting for a response he started carting the two away to jail.

* * *

By sunrise they reached the highest cliff overlooking the sea. And despite the protests of his consciences, Pinocchio was as determined as ever. As he tied his tail to a big rock to weight himself down, Jiminy tried one last plea for sanity.

"But this Monstro, I've heard of him. He's a whale of a whale! Why, he swallows whole ships alive!"

"Geez, is he a Sperm Whale or something?" Melissa thought of the great squid-eating whales.

"No no, he's the biggest Blue Whale of them all!" Jiminy corrected as he help Pinocchio with the knot.

Melissa stared at him as if trying to see if he was kidding, then shook her head, "This world has completely lost its marbles."

Jiminy then continued, "And besides, it's dangerous! Why I-"

"Goodbye Jiminy, goodbye Melissa," Pinocchio held out his hand.

"Goodbye?" Jiminy seemed taken aback by that, "I may be live bait down there but I'm with ya. Isn't that right Melissa?"

After a sigh, Melissa agreed with a smile, "Sure, I've lived a short but eventful life. Well the last two days have been pretty eventful. So yeah, I'm with you both."

Jiminy nodded and hopped on the rock with Melissa, "Come on." He held his nose and said, "Let's go."

That brought up a good point that Melissa, surprisingly, hadn't thought of, "Wait a second. How are we going to breath?!"

That question seemed unimportant to the other two as Pinocchio jumped off the cliff and into the water as the two crickets held on. Jiminy called out, "Look out below!" while Melissa just closed her eyes and prayed the breaking of logic would be consistent.

As they fell, Melissa opened her eyes when she heard, "Gang way down there," and realized she'd heard Jiminy talk underwater. After a moment, she decided that as long as she could breath, she couldn't care less. It took all of ten seconds for them to reach the bottom with the weight attached. She looked around at their surroundings. Like Geppetto's workshop, this place was a rainbow of bright, vibrant colors. Everything around her teemed with life, big and small, and if the situation at hand wasn't so serious she would've liked to do some casual exploring.

"Gee, what a big place," Pinocchio said, looking around the seemingly endless sea.

Jiminy and Melissa grabbed onto some buried shells and looked around. "So, where to look first?" Melissa asked.

"I guess that would be up to Pinocchio," Jiminy shrugged.

Pinocchio brought himself closer to the floor and started walking, dragging the weight behind him, "Come on guys!"

"All right, soon as I take on some balance," Jiminy said, trying to scoop a stone up into his hat. He tried to walk like that, but ended up falling upside down.

Melissa looked at him as she gathered rocks into the empty pockets of her backpack, "Wrong end."

Jiminy smiled nervously, then stood up to correct that when he saw a fish staring at him, "Hmph, no more privacy than a goldfish."

After balancing herself out, Melissa put on her backpack. But strangely it didn't feel any heavier. She looked in the pockets. There were the rocks... fitting surprisingly well.

Melissa sighed and gave up on that idea, "Great, it's too enchanted." She got a rock and decided to put it down her pants like Jiminy, "At least I know these aren't enchanted." She looked up, "Come on, Pinocchio's getting far ahead of us."

The two ran as fast as they could through the water and to the puppet boy. Pinocchio kept calling out, "Father! Father!" and basically scaring any and all creatures nearby. Melissa knew the safest place was near him.

"Hey, wait for us!" Melissa yelled. They hopped onto the rock as Pinocchio continued to call for his father.

"Father-uh, he ain't my father," Jiminy corrected himself, "Mr. Geppetto!"

At that moment, the fish from earlier bite on the hooked handle of his umbrella, pulling him from the rock, "Hey-what the-"

Melissa leaped down and slapped the fish off of Jiminy. It let go, a hurt look on its face. Melissa tried to shoo it away but was stopped short as a bigger, angry-looking fish swam up to them.

"Oh crap," Melissa backed away, as did Jiminy. They eventually backed into a rock and tripped over it.

Jiminy smiled nervously, "We were only looking for Monstro-"

At that both fish swam away fast.

"Well, that was lucky," Melissa said, getting up, "Let s catch Pinocchio."

When they caught up they saw he had attracted a large school of many varieties of fish. As he continued walking and calling out, they followed like some bizarre parade. At one point Pinocchio stopped and saw the fish, "Oh, uh, can you tell me where we can find Monstro?"

All the fish went scattering at the name.

"Gee, they're scared," Pinocchio observed.

"If this Monstro is as renowned as Jiminy says, I'm not surprised," Melissa said.

As they continued their search, Melissa couldn't help but comment, "Seems all we've been doing since we got this job is running around, looking for stuff."

Jiminy shrugged, "Well, no one said being a conscience was easy."

"I guess, but being sentient creatures makes it ten times harder," Melissa commented.

"True, but like you said, we can't give up," Jiminy said.

"We've gone this far," Melissa said, straightening up, "I'm not about to give up yet."

* * *

For over half the day, they continued calling out , "Father!" and "Mr. Geppetto!" They'd long since given up asking around, or at least the crickets had. Pinocchio continued asking every fish he saw, but got the same response. No one wanted to associate with anyone crazy enough to ask about Monstro.

Eventually, they heard a rushing sound. They turned to see a whole school of tuna swimming towards them at a crazy speed. They rushed overhead as Pinocchio tried to get their attention.

"Wait! Wait a minute! Have you seen-" he stopped abruptly as he saw just why they were swimming so fast, "Monstro!"

There was the feared whale himself. Dark as night, bigger than any ship any of the trio had ever seen, and a mouth ready to feed on anything.

Pinocchio tried swimming away as fast as possible, but the rock weight got caught. Jiminy and Melissa solved that as fast as possible, untying the tail from the rock with one tug.

Pinocchio got away just in the nick of time. Monstro crashed into where they were previously caught, and they now fought hard to stay as far ahead of the beast as possible.

Melissa briefly looked behind her and saw the Blue Whale coming towards them, mouth wide open and teeth razor sharp. She turned away and started swimming faster than she ever had in her life, "I knew it, I knew I was gonna get eaten by the stupid, impossible whale!"

She glanced back again and saw Pinocchio falling behind, almost in the monster's jaws, "Swim faster, kid! Swim!"

Pinocchio grabbed hold of several tuna, pulling his way ahead of the group. Jiminy and Melissa ended up hitting the behemoth of a whale above the mouth, and they realized if they stayed like that they were safe.

"Pinocchio!"

"Hey Pinoke!"

They both tried calling for him, but he was too far ahead. They all started going straight up, and Pinocchio and the tuna broke the surface. Monstro opened his abyss of a mouth, broke the surface as well, and swallowed them whole.

"Pinocchio!" Melissa cried out. Jiminy held onto her as they floated down on his umbrella to Monstro's closed teeth. Jiminy turned it upside down so they could float on the water.

"Hey, blubber mouth! Open up, we've gotta get in there!" Jiminy yelled, knocking on the teeth.

Melissa breathed heavily, "Oh God, all this time I was worried about being eaten, and I forgot about poor Pinocchio. We've gotta find a way in."

"Well here's our way!" Jiminy gestured to the teeth.

"He just ate, he's not opening his mouth for awhile now," Melissa said, looking up at the monster-sized teeth as Jiminy continued to try and get in. Never, in all her time as a cricket, has she felt more terrified. Even with four other near-death experiences, this was just... just terrifying.

Monstro lifted himself up and they could now stand on his lower lip. Jiminy closed his umbrella and continued knocking on the teeth, "We gotta get in! Our pal's in there! Come on you big mook! Open up I tell-"

"Jiminy!" Melissa cried out, pointing at the fast approaching seagull.

But Jiminy was quick, and he swatted the seagull with his umbrella. Melissa followed suit and when another seagull came close she beaned it with her backpack.

"Hey! Cut it out!" Jiminy yelled, then grabbed Melissa and hopped into a bottle floating nearby, "You stay in here." He went up the neck and used his umbrella to shield the opening from the seagull's hungry beaks, "Hey, go on, beat it ya buzzards!"

Melissa looked around as Jiminy held the shield. Beneath she saw the dark, dark ocean. What was once colorful and inviting now looked harsh and unforgiving, even deadly. She felt especially distressed that the only thing keeping her from that abyss was thin green glass. She wanted to curl up at that moment, but looking up at Jiminy, she had a better plan.

She reached into her backpack, pulled out some rocks, and found a few big rubber bands. Tying two pencils together at a small cross with two rubber bands, she cut another rubber band and tied the ends on each side of the resulting big V. Picking up several rocks, she stood up, "Sit down Jiminy."

Jiminy looked at her and got out of the way as she took his place at the shield. Readying her crude slingshot, she took aim and fired at a seagull. Catching it between the eyes, she saw it flail and squawk before flying away.

"Yes!" Melissa loaded another rock into the slingshot and took aim. One by one the seagulls were hit and eventually they all started flying away in terror.

"All right, way to go Melissa!" Jiminy congratulated her.

Melissa let out a breath, "Thanks, it was either that or curl up and cry. And I was getting sick of doing that."

Jiminy smiled, then his attention was averted, "What in the world?"

Melissa turned and saw it. Smoke was rising from the top of Monstro's head. What's more, Monstro appeared to be sniffing something, and when he opened his mouth, smoke came pouring out.

"Looks like our little Pinocchio found a way out!" Melissa said, as the water started rushing into the whale.

Jiminy went up to the top of the bottle, closed the umbrella, and tried to find a good way in. He found it through a gap in between Monstro's teeth, "Well, it's about time!" He used his umbrella to paddle into the whale.

Melissa had gone back to the body of the bottle, watching everything through the glass, "We're coming Pinocchio." But right away she saw Pinocchio and the rest of the family on their way out on a raft.

"Hey, which way ya going?" Jiminy reversed his paddling, trying to catch up to Pinocchio, "Wait for us!"

"Jiminy, get inside!" Melissa pulled him into the bottle just before Monstro let out one monster of a sneeze, expelling them and Pinocchio's raft. They were blown for several dozen yards before stopping.

"Gesundheit!" Jiminy said in response to such a sneeze.

But it wasn't over. The smoke was still pouring from the whale, and he made ready for another sneeze, breathing in several times and bringing them all closer.

"Oh shit, hold on Jiminy!" Melissa said, bracing herself for another big sneeze. They were all brought back into the mouth, and Geppetto bemoaned that they wouldn't make it, but Pinocchio held tight to the raft.

With one more great sneeze, they were all blown clear of the sneeze's range. Even luckier, the bottle ended up landing on the raft. Both crickets tried to make their way on deck, but Monstro had gotten over the sneeze spell and was mad. Spotting the little raft, he charged at the small family.

"He's coming!" Melissa cried out, bringing Jiminy back into the bottle where there was relative safety. They saw him dive under, and for a moment all was silent.

"Oh God," Melissa looked below.

Monstro crashed through the water and the tiny raft bounced all over his back before falling into the water. The bottle likewise was tossed all over before dropping into the water.

Melissa was pressed against the wall of the bottle, eyes wide and backpack clutched tight against her chest. She breathed heavily, muttering, "That just took ten years off my life."

"We aren't dead yet," Jiminy said, getting up and starting to paddle again, "I don't see Pinocchio or Mr. Geppetto anyway. We've gotta get to shore, that's the only way to get out of here."

Melissa looked up at him. They almost got killed, and he's as determined as ever. She looked around, and saw an open pass to shore up ahead, "There Jiminy, head that way."

"Right, shore ahead," Jiminy said. As they passed underneath it Melissa thought she heard something. She looked behind them to see.

"Pinocchio!" Melissa cried out, seeing the little puppet carrying his father behind him. She also saw Figaro and Cleo struggling to keep up amid the torrent of waves. Following was the mad whale Monstro. Just as the four were close, the waves rose up and blocked them from the pass.

"Oh no, please!" Melissa begged, hoping they'd make it through all right.

Suddenly the bottle began going backwards. The waves were receding and bringing them back through the passage.

"No no no!" Jiminy tried furiously to paddle, but the water kept pulling them back.

Melissa squeezed her way through and tried to paddle with her hands, but that was just as ineffective. She saw Pinocchio and the others were having the same problem. Even though the water levels dropped, they were pulling them back towards the sea beast that wanted to kill them.

Monstro leapt out towards the group, mouth open for the kill. They were almost back into the pass when he slammed against the wall of rock. The force pushed them all through the pass and tumbling onto the sandy shore.

As soon as they got to the shore, Jiminy and Melissa got out of their bottle. The previous chaos had caused it to fill with water, and they hurried to get out. Melissa picked up Jiminy's umbrella as he'd gone off to search for Pinocchio. She followed behind, anxiety filling her. The pangs had returned.

"Pinocchio!" Jiminy called out, climbing up some rocks to get a better view, "Oh Pinocchio! Pinocch-" He gasped at the sight. Pinocchio, their sweet, innocent Pinocchio, was laying face down and motionless in a pool of water.

Melissa came up behind him, and gasped as well, "Oh... oh Pinocchio..." Something seemed to snap in her, and after all this time with no sleep, little food, and all the near-death experiences, she began crying. She didn't care that the ending was one of the few parts she remembered from the movie, she couldn't see that now. All she saw was this sweet little boy lying dead in front of her.

Jiminy turned and held her, trying and failing to hold back his own tears. They heard someone walking up, or rather stumbling up, but were too trapped in their sorrow to even look up.

"Oh no, oh!" the voice gasped, and they finally looked to see Geppetto, carrying Figaro and Cleo. He'd finally stumbled upon the body of his son, and was staring with horror. "Oh my boy. Oh my poor little Pinocchio!" He put down the two animals, stumbled into the shallow water, and retrieved the body. The tears flowed freely as he cuddled the saturated wooden body, "Must've hit his head on the rocks... gave his life to save me... oh my son..."

Geppetto mourned on that spot for well over an hour, as did all the animals. No one spoke, no one moved. Finally getting up, he picked up Cleo's bowl and looked at Figaro sadly, sniffling a bit before saying, "Let's go home. We'll give him a proper burial in the morning. I..." He looked at his son, "I want one more day with my son."

Figaro nodded in agreement, and so did Cleo. Geppetto began walking with his small family, and behind them followed a pair of sad little crickets, heads held low and eyes filled with tears.

No one spoke a single word on the way there, and even when they got home in the wee hours of the night everyone was silent. Geppetto set Pinocchio's body on the bed, and after lighting a candle in the window went by his side and continued his mourning. Jiminy and Melissa sat by the candle, Melissa sitting on the edge of the holder and Jiminy crossing his arms over it as he cried. He pulled out his handkerchief to wipe his eyes before continuing to cry some more. Melissa looked at him, then bent down and wrapped her arms around him as she cried with him.

With all the crying Melissa she almost missed what was going on, and she lifted her head as she heard a voice say, "But father, I'm alive see? And-and I'm... I'm real. I'm a real boy!"

Melissa tapped Jiminy hard to get him to look up and see, and when he did all the sorrow melted from his face as he saw Geppetto cheer at the sight of his little boy alive.

"You're alive, and-and you are a real boy!" Geppetto lifted Pinocchio up and smiled.

Jiminy and Melissa cheered at that, all pretense of keeping hidden forgotten as they jumped around and hugged each other.

And once again, "This calls for a celebration!" Geppetto started up not only the music boxes, but the clocks as well. All the little figures on them seemed to cheer with joy at the miracle before them. As the music played, Geppetto and Pinocchio danced and celebrated the true start of their new life together.

"Well, this is practically where we came in," Jiminy said with a smile, then turned to Melissa and bowed, "May I have this dance?"

Melissa shrugged, "Why not? It is a celebration!" They took each other's hands and began dancing to the music. As they went on Melissa caught a twinkle out of the corner of her eye. She stopped the dance and looked out the window, "I think there's someone important we have to thank."

Jiminy nodded in agreement, and went out with Melissa to the windowsill. He started, taking off his hat as he looked up, "Thank you milady. He deserved to be a real boy. And it sure was nice of you to-" he stopped as he realized there was a light shining on them. Both he and Melissa looked confused for a moment before they saw something appear on their chests. They were badges, starburst-shaped badges that read 'Official Conscience. 18 kt'.

"Guess we've proven ourselves," Melissa commented, examining the badge.

"I'll say!" Jiminy agreed, shining it, "solid gold too!" He looked up at the starry sky and said, "Oh, I think it's swell!"

"Yeah," Melissa looked up at the shining star. She then looked at Jiminy, "Hey pops, if it's OK, could I get a moment alone?"

"Sure thing," Jiminy went inside, still fawning over his new badge.

Melissa turned back to the starry sky and took a deep breath before speaking, "Well, gotta admit, this has been one Hell of an adventure. Except I don't really see why I needed to be here. I don't think I made a difference; it ended pretty much the same as I remember. But if you ever do find out what cosmic being made this possible, tell them thanks, this was worth everything."

Melissa turned around and walked back inside. Jiminy was watching the merry family with a smile on his face. Melissa walked up, "They are a wonderful little family, aren't they?"

"They sure are," Jiminy agreed, "They deserve every happiness in the world."

"Well, I'm glad that we could be here for them," Melissa said.

"Yeah, Jiminy looked at her, Melissa, thanks for being here for me this whole time. I can't imagine going through this without you."

"Oh trust me, I'm sure you could've done just fine on your own," Melissa smiled awkwardly, but patted him on the back, If anything, I should be grateful you were around for me, or who knows where I'd be right now? Thanks pops.

They smiled at each other, and then Jiminy took her hand, "Come on, let's dance some more!"

The whole house was filled with music and dance that night. Father danced with son, cat danced with fish, and two official consciences celebrated the start of a new life and a new family.

But this was only the start of the rest of their adventures...


	7. The Aftermath

(Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took longer to get out. Aside from school work taking up my time, since I'm now constructing my own plot and stories, it's probably gonna take longer than it use to get the chapters done. Plus I needed to read the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for later. You'll see why in the next chapter.)

* * *

"So these are your consciences?" Geppetto looked at the two crickets on the counter, then at his son.

"Uh huh," Pinocchio nodded, "Jiminy and Melissa have been with me all this time, and they helped me rescue you and become a real boy!"

Geppetto looked at the two crickets again with a smile, "Is that so? Well, I can't thank you two enough for helping my little boy."

"Aw, you don't have to thank us," Jiminy said modestly.

"Yeah really," Melissa shrugged, "It's what anyone would do, I would hope."

"Well I'm very grateful," Geppetto bent down at an attempt to be at eye level with the crickets on the counter, "As far as I'm concerned, you two are a part of the family now."

Jiminy and Melissa smiled at each other. They were now not only official consciences, but official members of this family.

"I guess you were right Jiminy, it was time to show ourselves," Melissa said to him.

"You see Melissa? Things are really starting to look up," Jiminy said.

Pinocchio picked up Figaro and showed him the two, "See Figaro, these are Jiminy and Melissa!"

Figaro was put on the counter as he stared intently at the two small insects, and unseen to the two humans he grinned at them much like a destructive child who's been given a new toy.

Melissa felt something in the back of her mind that she had to assume was instinct telling her to run as Figaro grinned. She could tell Jiminy was feeling it too, given how stiff he suddenly got.

There was a knock on the door, and Geppetto turned, "Oh, I wonder who that could be at this late hour?" He and Pinocchio walked away and left the three creatures alone.

Both crickets began backing away. As the cat loomed over them Melissa said, "Uh, what was that you said about things looking up?"

They jumped as Figaro pounced, and finally gave into the instinct to start running away.

"Oh, Emilio, Lorenzo, come in!" Geppetto welcomed in two men whom all seemed around his age.

"We're so glad you're back," a short portly man with a white comb over and comb mustache said, "You were gone for a worryingly long time."

"And we see you found your boy," the other man, this one lean, bald, and clean shaven, said.

"Yes," Geppetto smiled at the boy beside him, "My brave little boy here found me and save me from certain death!"

During this whole conversation, Jiminy and Melissa were trying to outrun the predator. They tried to hide behind paint cans, but were quick to run as soon as they saw his shadow looming over them. They tried hiding beneath a doll's hat, but Figaro was quick to sniff them out. He pounced on the hat to try and trap them, and then tried to reach in for them.

Jiminy saw the paw coming and pulled Melissa out the other side, "Okay, this is a bit of a setback."

"Setback? Becoming a cat's plaything and possible prey is more than a setback!" Melissa yelled.

Unfortunately this got Figaro's attention. They leaped and landed on the rim of Cleo's fishbowl. Figaro jumped down close and tried to paw at them.

SLAP! Cleo had jumped from her bowl and smacked the naughty kitten with her back fin.

As Figaro froze for a second, Lorenzo caught the action out of the corner of his eye, "Geppetto, I think your pets are fighting."

Geppetto turned and saw the kitten leaning over the fishbowl, Jiminy and Melissa trying to keep their balance on the rim. As Figaro glared at the little goldfish Geppetto shouted, "Figaro!"

Figaro flinched at that. Geppetto was at their side within an instant, picking up Figaro by the scruff of his neck and scolding him, "I've told you before, we don't eat family! Jiminy and Melissa are family now." He held the cat to the crickets, "Now apologize."

Jiminy and Melissa nearly lost their balance as they tried not to back away into Cleo's bowl. Jiminy waved a hand at that, "No no, that's fine Mr. Geppetto!"

"Yeah, no harm done!" Melissa emphasized by waving both hands.

Geppetto picked up Figaro and continued scolding him like a parent who caught a child stealing from a cookie jar, "You should feel lucky Jiminy and Melissa are so forgiving."

"So I see you have crickets," Lorenzo bent down to examine the two crickets perched on the rim of the fishbowl.

"Two crickets," Emilio observed, "That's twice the luck!" Emilio smiled at Geppetto, "Very cute new additions to the family."

"Seems like you'll have to do something about your cat though," Lorenzo looked at Figaro, who was pacing around them.

"Yes, I suppose I will," Geppetto rubbed his chin, then pounded his fist into his palm, "I know!" He looked down at Pinocchio, "I'm going to talk privately with my friends for a moment."

"Okay father," Pinocchio said, getting the two crickets off the bowl before they fell in. As the adults walked away he looked at the two, "Hey, Figaro didn't hurt you two did he?"

"No, we're both okay," Jiminy assured Pinocchio.

"Yeah, hopefully Figaro will listen to Geppetto," Melissa said, "At least he won't be around when you go to school tomorrow."

"Yeah," Pinocchio nodded, then looked out the window distantly and said, "I hope I can make good this time."

"Don't sweat it Pinoke," Jiminy said, patting the hand that held them, "Everything will be fine. We'll be with you every step of the way this time, we promise."

"And on the chance that we oversleep again, just remember to wake us," Melissa smiled a little.

Pinocchio smiled back at his consciences, "If you guys are there, I know I'll be fine!"

"Good," Melissa nodded, then she noticed the clocks sounding out eleven o'clock, "You should probably get ready for bed if you plan on getting up early."

Pinocchio nodded, "Okay." He set them back on the counter and hurried to get ready.

Figaro watched Pinocchio walk away, and when he was out of the room he jumped back onto the counter. But Jiminy and Melissa were already making their way to their shelf, starting with climbing up a cloth that was draped from the shelf. With one leap they grabbed the cloth and began climbing, Jiminy hooking his umbrella on his arm to keep both hands free.

"Can't believe Pinocchio's going to school tomorrow," Melissa said as they climbed up the cloth, "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"What do you mean?" Jiminy asked, looking at her. At this point Figaro had grabbed the fabric and was trying to reach them. The two just quickened their pace.

"Well, Pinocchio does have a way of attracting trouble," Melissa pointed out as they neared the top, "And this time he can bleed."

"I know we've had some trouble, but I think we're getting the hang of being consciences," Jiminy said as he climbed onto the shelf, "Pinocchio's gotten better at listening to us."

"Better? He completely ignored us when we tried to tell him how crazy going into the ocean was. That's the last thing I remember us telling him," Melissa retorted as Jiminy helped her up, "Face it, we haven't made any impact."

"Anyone tell you you're very negative?" Jiminy said to her, glancing down at the still climbing kitten.

"Anyone tell you you're overly optimistic?" Melissa said dryly, and then noticed the fabric beginning to rip.

Figaro noticed too late and with a loud RIP! he fell tail first into a can of paint. He wiggled as he tried to get out, Cleo giggling all the while at the predicament Figaro had quite literally landed in. Finally he got out of the can (had he been any bigger he would've been stuck), and now prowled away with a bright red butt.

"Poor kitten," Melissa sighed, gathering the cloth that was left on the shelf, "At least he wasn't hurt too bad, and he didn't hurt us. And now we have blankets."

"Way to be optimistic," Jiminy smiled as he followed her to their very first bed arrangements. The violin bunk bed made them smile as they remembered their very first night in this shop.

Jiminy yawned as he set up his sleeping area on the head, "Just like the night we came here huh? Still a nice place."

"Yeah," Melissa nodded, taking off her jacket and skirt in order to pad out the area beneath the neck, "But still, I wish we had proper beds. Or even a change in clothes. These are starting to reek."

"There might be some doll clothes somewhere on the shelf if you look hard enough," Jiminy suggested, ripping up the piece of fabric so they'd both have blankets.

"Good thinking," Melissa started searching, and after a couple minutes found a discarded figure that looked like it belonged on a music box. Though the figurine was wood, it wore a cloth nightgown. As Melissa took the clothes off she saw the fabric was meant to hide a mistake; a big dent in the side would've made it impossible to carve the nightgown from wood.

Melissa pulled off the cummerbund and started to take off her shirt when she felt something brush against her fingers. She felt at her back as her eyes widened. She looked around and saw a blue reflective jar, and standing with her back to it she lifted her shirt.

Jiminy, meanwhile, had settled down and was near sleep. After all the recent events, he was beyond exhausted and felt like he could drop in a second.

"Oh my God!"

Jiminy fell off the violin in a scramble and ran over, fast approaching the area she was in, "Melissa?! Melissa, what's wrong?! What-" He immediately stopped and turned around, closing his eyes as a blush grew on his face.

Melissa walked up to him as she pulled her shirt back down and picked up the nightgown, "Jiminy, I have wings!"

"Y-Yes, you do," Jiminy said, still not looking at her.

"All this time I had wings, and I didn't know!" Melissa was staring at him with wide, insistent eyes as if she'd just discovered the secret of life.

"All crickets have wings," Jiminy pointed out as he suddenly found the floor more important than looking at who he was speaking to.

"Well yeah- but I didn't know they did this world," Melissa explained, "I mean we have hands, eyes, mouths, and feet like humans... She then poked his back, which was turned to her, "So you've had wings under your shirt and jacket this whole time?"

Jiminy jumped a little and put a bit of distance between them.

"What's got your antennae all twisted?" Melissa asked sarcastically.

"Well I thought you were in trouble or something, then I come and see..." Jiminy's eyes flickered downward before he turned his head again.

Melissa glanced down also, then made a show of rolling her eyes as she went up and pushed him, "Oh come off it, like you've never seen a pair before."

"Yes-I mean that's not-I don't-" Jiminy then just closed his mouth and instead started heading back.

Melissa followed, continuing her small rant, "That's another thing. Apparently I have the same woman parts I had as a human. What kind of sense does that make? Isn't the point of being a different species to be, you know, different? Man, this anatomy makes no sen-"

"Can you stop talking about this? Please?!" Jiminy asked, abruptly cutting her off.

Melissa blinked, then went behind some books to change, "Geez, they're just breasts. Why is this such a big deal? You just outed yourself as a big philanderer."

"That's doesn't mean- I don't- you're seventeen!" Jiminy tried to explain with a fluster, "So just-" He fell silent again.

Melissa was also silent as she thought about that, and said no more as she came back out. The nightgown was sky blue, long sleeved and skirt, high neckline (which was fortunate given the recent events). It was slightly big, but bunching it and putting the cummerbund back on helped a little. Melissa hung the clothes up nearby to let them air out for the night.

Geppetto was now back and was showing his friends out, "Night Emilio, night Lorenzo. I hope it all goes well."

Pinocchio had come out as well, now in his own nightclothes, "What do you hope goes well?"

Geppetto bent down to his son and whispered, "Oh it's just a surprise for Jiminy and Melissa. But don't let them suspect."

"Okay father," Pinocchio nodded, then was led to bed as they both yawned.

Geppetto laid Pinocchio down, but before he could settle down Pinocchio piped up, "Father, what's school going to be like?"

"Oh it's a great place," Geppetto said with a smile, "You'll learn so many great things, like reading and writing, and you'll make friends with your classmates."

"What will they be like?" Pinocchio asked.

"Oh I imagine they'll be great," Geppetto assured his son, "Some of my friends' children and grandchildren will be your classmates. Young girls and boys, just like you! Well, not exactly, they weren't puppets like you were."

"Oh... will they care that I was a puppet?" Pinocchio asked curiously.

"Of course not," Geppetto said, finally getting to bed, "There's no reason for them to care about that."

"But... being made of wood got me into a lot of trouble before," Pinocchio said, looking down at his fleshy hands. He didn't seem to fully understand why though.

Geppetto thought about that, then rested a hand on his son's head, "Now Pinocchio, there's no reason to feel different or ashamed because you were made of wood. Why, you come from a very noble cut of wood!"

"I do?" Pinocchio was now looking at his father with curious eyes.

"Yes indeed," Geppetto nodded, "Why your grandfather was a noble old pine tree, that he was!"

"Tell me about him father!" Pinocchio asked, wanting to know more about his grandfather.

Geppetto took a moment to think before he begun weaving the story for young Pinocchio, pointing out to a forest near the mountains, "He stands up there on the mountaintop, and for a hundred years he stood! His giant trunk to the sky it climbs, a mighty made of wood."

Jiminy and Melissa had been listening for a while, and were now paying attention to the story as best they could as they drifted into sleep.

"Rhymes, of course," Melissa shrugged, her eyes half closed as she listened.

Pinocchio, however, was listening with rapt attention as he imagined the noble pine tree, which in his mind had the face of his father.

Geppetto continued, "The little birds, they visit him, bring birds from far, also near! The nests they build in his cozy limbs, and practice songs of cheer.

"Your grandpa, he watches over them when storms are in the sky. He folds his branches round his friends and keeps them warm and dry!" Geppetto straightened up and said, "When the mighty thunder shakes the earth, my golly it's grand to see! He bears his chest to the lightning flash and says, 'Come on, strike me!'"

He struck a strong, imposing pose as Pinocchio envisioned his grandfather standing up to the raging storms all by himself.

Geppetto then continued to build up the grandness of the proud pine, "There in the midst of a million trees, with a mountain for a throne! Strong and tall and brave and kind! Like a king, he stands alone!"

He then looked down at Pinocchio, and saw he was near sleep with a smile on his face. Geppetto smiled and patted the boy on his head, "Sleep well Pinocchio." He got up to get ready for bed, then for the first time noticed Figaro, who'd been standing by the bed and listening, "Figaro, what happened to your bottom?"

Figaro glared in Jiminy and Melissa's direction, but just pouted as he was carried away to get cleaned.

Melissa glanced at Jiminy from beneath the violin, "Nice story, been awhile since I was able to listen to a story while trying to go to bed."

Jiminy nodded in agreement, then turned over and murmured, "Sweet dreams kid."

"Yeah... not likely," Melissa muttered to herself, pulling the makeshift blanket closer.


	8. The School

(Author's note: Yay, new chapter! Sorry it took so long to get out; I've been incredibly busy even though it's been summer time (I was taking a summer course to get a class out of the way). But this is the longest chapter yet, and hopefully all the new characters and new plot (and plot set-up) will make up for it! (... Hopefully?)

I'd like to say something before the chapter starts. I've appreciated all the reviews I've gotten so far. But now that we're getting into new stories, I'd like to know if my writing and characterizations are working and if the new characters seem believable. I'd really appreciate knowing what I'm doing right and what I need to improve on. So in the future, could the reviews be a bit more constructive? Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the new chapter ^_^)

* * *

"So do you think we'll be ready in time?" he asked Melissa as they walked down the dark street.

"James, you're born to play El Gallo," Melissa rolled her eyes at his concern, "You'll do fine. As for me... well, there's not much talent in playing a mute character."

"That's not true, it's just your body language that count instead of your singing," James seemed to be embarrassed, but Melissa just shrugged as they arrived at her home.

"Well, here we are," Melissa smiled at him, "Thanks for going out with me."

James smiled awkwardly, "Well I'm really glad you did want to go out. I've wanted to ask for awhile."

"Really?" Melissa asked.

"Yeah, really..." As they stood in the driveway in silence, James began leaning towards her.

"Wait, come in front of the garage," Melissa stopped him and began leading him up the driveway to the garage door, "I don't want my mom peeking out and seeing us."

"Overprotective?" James asked.

"And overbearing. She barely let me go on this date," Melissa rolled her eyes as she remembered how her mother tried to talk her out of the date.

"Wow, that's tough," James commented.

"Yeah... actually, to be honest, this is my first date ever," Melissa admitted, looking at the ground as she said this.

"Really?" James seemed genuinely surprised, "I'd have thought you'd been on lots of dates before."

Melissa wasn't quite sure how to feel about that assumption, but nonetheless just smiled a little.

Another moment of silence followed, same as the last, except this time Melissa didn't stop him when he leaned in. Instead she met him halfway, and stayed there for almost a minute before James pulled away.

"I should get going, don't want your mom to freak out."

Melissa nodded in agreement, "Right. Have a good night." She watched James walk away and waited until he was out of sight before walking up to the front door. Before she knew it, her mother was right there.

"There you are!" Melanie yelled, walking up to her daughter, "Do you know what time it is?"

"A minute before my curfew, you don't have to frea- Are you drunk?" Melissa noticed the blush on her mother's face and the slur in her voice.

"Never mind that!" Melanie waved off the question and continued scolding her, "Why is it so close to your curfew? Were you just sooo busy having fun you decided to risk it?"

"Mom it's not a big deal!" Melissa tried to insist.

"Really? You think I didn't see you kissing out in front of the garage just before you came in? This is your first date!"

"Mom-"

"Did you forget what I told you about men?" Melanie interrupted in a low voice, "You're just encouraging them to take advantage of you by giving in so soon."

"Damn it Mom shut up!" Melissa was the one yelling now, "It was just a kiss! I'm fifteen and I've never been kissed before!"

"You should count your blessings little miss," Melanie glared at Melissa, "After kissing, it's a long slippery slope downward. Do I have to remind you of your filthy father?"

"No, no you don't. I'm sick of hearing how horrible Dad was Mom! Move on already, that was all years ago and you're remarried. Let it go!"

* * *

"Melissa, get up!" Jiminy woke the writhing form of the teenager, "Pinocchio's up, dressed, and almost ready for- hey, are you okay?"

Melissa was breathing hard and was breaking out in a cold sweat. She looked at Jiminy with wide eyes before nodded, "Yeah, yeah. Just, rough night of sleep." She got up, breathed deeply, and then gathered her things, "I'll be ready in a moment."

Jiminy watched her, furrowing his brow slightly before going his own way.

Geppetto was making sure Pinocchio was all ready for school in the meantime. He had ran out earlier to get Pinocchio a new primer (his first one had been lost in the other day's events), and was now making Pinocchio breakfast and getting a new apple for the teacher.

"New primer, apple..." Geppetto tried to think of anything he was missing as he gathered the items, "I think you're all ready."

"Okay," Pinocchio finished his breakfast and gathered his things. This time he walked over to the shelf and called out, "Jiminy, Melissa! I'm almost ready to go!"

"We'll be right down Pinoke!" Jiminy shouted back as he put on his shoes and jacket.

Melissa came out from the other side of a book, tossing the nightgown aside and tying her hair in a ponytail, "Sounds like Pinocchio's excited."

"He sure does, hopefully today will go off without a hitch," Jiminy grabbed a nearby spool of thread and after tying the thread to a nail protruding on the shelf he let the spool drop. He and Melissa climbed to the counter.

Pinocchio was waiting for them, and when they were on the counter he scooped them up in his hands, "Come on, let's go!" He reached up and put them on the brim of his hat.

Geppetto walked up at that moment, "Here's your apple, and your primer."

"Thanks father!"

"And don't worry Mr. Geppetto," Jiminy assured the old man, "We'll make sure things go smoothly today."

Geppetto smiled as they walked out the door, "I'm not worried; as long as my boy has his consciences, he'll be fine." The children were passing by as the school bells chimed, "You'd best get going now!"

Pinocchio, Jiminy, and Melissa waved goodbye to Geppetto as they headed for school. They followed the group of children as they raced down the street.

* * *

Pinocchio followed the other children inside the classroom. The three friends looked around the sparse room. It was incredibly simple; small desks for the students with a big one at the front for the teacher, a chalkboard, a small bookshelf, and an area to hang coats and store materials.

"I feel like I'm touring one of those Amish towns," Melissa remarked to herself as she looked around the room.

Pinocchio wasn't paying attention to her as he looked around at the kids, who were up and about playing and chatting before class started. He was beginning to feel excited again as he walked up to one of the boys, "Hi, I'm Pinocchio!"

The brunette looked at him with disinterest, as if he were a fly that was passing by, "So?"

"So I'm new here!" Pinocchio explained, not put off by the boy's attitude.

"Oh really? You just move here or what?" the boy asked, turning to him.

"I guess, my father just said I had to go to school," Pinocchio shrugged slightly.

The boy snorted at that, "So? Parents don't know anything. My father, for example, could hire a private tutor for me if he wanted to," he said this part as if it should impress Pinocchio, "But he has this crazy idea of sending me to this school instead. So now I have to deal with dirty little urchins like yourself everyday." He stared Pinocchio down as he said this, leaving Pinocchio with nothing to say.

At that moment a tall, wrinkled but distinguished old man wearing a powdered wig walked in, "Alright class, settle down and get to your seats."

Everyone immediately did as instructed. All except Pinocchio, who was looking around curiously. The man walked up to the boy and cleared his throat. Jiminy and Melissa hid themselves on the other side of the hat as Pinocchio turned, "Oh, uh, hi! My name's Pinocchio!"

There was a chorus of giggles throughout the class as the man scrutinized the boy with hawk-like eyes, "Ah yes, you're Geppetto Tiraboschi's son. I've been expecting you. I am your teacher, Master Aquila."

"His last name's Tiraboschi?" Melissa whispered. Jiminy quickly shushed her.

Pinocchio nodded and gave him the apple, "He said I'm supposed to give you this."

Master Aquila took the apple and examined it, then began walking to the front, "Very well. Find a free seat and sit down."

Pinocchio looked around and found one in the back. He sat down and looked at the teacher as he began the class.

Master Aquila got out a slate and some chalk, and then walked to Pinocchio, "These will be your writing supplies."

The class began learning their alphabet. Melissa had to wonder about this. Forgetting the fact that this wasn't even the beginning of the semester, these kids had to be at least seven. Surely they knew their alphabet by now. She suppressed a groan as the lesson continued.

Master Aquila wrote out the Italian alphabet (which, Melissa noticed, had no J, W, X, or Y), and the students said them aloud as he pointed to them. Well, most did. Pinocchio was having trouble keeping up, and just listened and watched.

After going through it as a group Master Aquila announced, "We will now say them individually." He pointed at a young blonde girl, "Now Cornelia, recite the entire alphabet."

Cornelia stood up and twisted one of her braided pigtails as she recited the entire list of letters perfectly.

"Very good."

Pinocchio looked at her, wishing he could remember the letters as well as she could. Meanwhile he and his two consciences heard some whispering in front of them and caught muffles of "show off" and "know-it-all."

They went through a few more and, as the teacher was about to reach Pinocchio, Jiminy whispered to him, "Now don't be nervous. Just do the best you can."

"Pinocchio."

Pinocchio stood up quickly, almost knocking his chair down. As his classmates giggled Master Aquila tapped the board with his pointer stick, "Recite."

Pinocchio gulped and tried to sound the words out as best he could remember they sounded, "Um... A, B... seas-" the children giggled again, flustering him even more. He twiddled his fingers as he tried to continue, "Uh, um... E-"

"That's enough," Master Aquila waved the pointer stick slightly in Pinocchio's direction, You may sit down."

Pinocchio slumped down in his chair.

"It's okay kid," Melissa tried to reassure him, "You'll get it eventually."

Pinocchio didn't respond. Master Aquila came to the boy from earlier, "Eugene." He stood up and lazily recited the alphabet. As Eugene sat down he shot a glance at Pinocchio. Pinocchio looked down, not meeting the boy's eye.

* * *

"Don't worry Pinoke," Jiminy said as they left the school, "it's only your first day after all."

"Yeah," Melissa looked over the brim at Pinocchio's sullen face, "no one gets this stuff right away. And your first day could've been a lot-"

A loud sigh prompted all three of them to look in it's direction. Pinocchio said, "Hey, it's that know-it-all girl." Cornelia was sitting under a tree and looking at a book lying open on her lap.

"Here's an idea," Melissa said, "Why not get a classmate to tutor you? She seems smart, she could probably help you learn in no time."

"Maybe," Pinocchio said, observing her, "But I don't know if I should bother her. She looks distracted."

Her eyes didn't move over the page, and her blue eyes seemed distant. She was neither smiling nor frowning; her face was just expressionless.

Melissa observed the girl, and the more she examined the distant, vacant look on her face, the more twisted her stomach became. Suddenly jumped off Pinocchio and started heading towards her.

"Melissa, what are you doing?" Jiminy asked, but Melissa didn't respond. Melissa looked up at the girl, feeling an odd kind of sickness as she looked at her. She grabbed her necklace and leaped onto the girl's book, instantly catching her attention.

"Oh!" Cornelia looked at the cricket, then smiled slightly, "Hello."

"Hi," Melissa said, "Are you okay?"

"Oh yes!" Cornelia nodded and her smile widened, "I'm just waiting for my big sister. She always meets me here to do jobs..."

"What jobs?"

Cornelia looked up to see Pinocchio, "Oh, you're that new boy, Mister Geppetto's son."

"You know my father?" Pinocchio asked.

"Yeah," Cornelia nodded, "I know your father; my father gives him wood to carve."

"Really?" Pinocchio asked, sitting next to her.

"Yeah, that's what my father does, he cuts wood and sells it," Cornelia explained, "Most of the time my sister and I help him and mother with that."

"Gee," Pinocchio said, thinking about that before continuing, "If you always help your father out, why are you doing other jobs?"

Jiminy, having guessed the reason, waved a hand urgently and tried to get Pinocchio to be quiet. Cornelia looked down, embarrassment filling her as she said, "Well, father can't work like he use to, so me and Annabella try to earn more money for him."

"That's nice of you," Pinocchio smiled innocently, "I bet your father really appreciates it."

Cornelia looked at him, and then smiled as well, "He does."

"Of course he would," a voice suddenly shouted out. The four looked up to see Eugene, "After all, Cherry-Nose needs all the money he can get just to send you to school."

Cornelia frowned at him, "Go away Eugene. And his name is Antonio, not Cherry-Nose."

"Aw, is the little cherry upset?" Eugene said in the most mock-sad voice, giving one of her pigtails a tug.

"Hey!" Pinocchio glared at Eugene as Cornelia squeaked.

"Stop it!" Cornelia jerked her head away, clutching her primer tight to her chest.

"Or what, little cherry? What'll you do?" Eugene tugged her other pigtail, "Run home to-" He was cut short by Pinocchio hitting him over the head with his primer.

"Knock it off!" Pinocchio shouted. The stunned kid fell to the ground.

"Pinocchio, what did you do?" Jiminy shouted, grabbing his hat in panic.

"Pinocchio, that could have killed him!" Melissa added with a wide-eyed look.

Cornelia had her hands over her mouth, and was left speechless.

Pinocchio, at the words of his consciences, snapped out of his rage and gasped, "Oh gosh, I'm sorry Euge-"

Luckily Eugene got up a few moments later. He glared at him, "How dare you, you filthy little peasant! Once my father hears about this, your father's through!" He tried to run off, but was cut off by someone standing in his way. Someone carrying an axe.

"Annabella!" Cornelia identified the girl. The girl had to be at least five years older than the kids with long brown hair tied back with a head cloth like Cornelia (except while Cornelia's was in braided pigtails, Annabella's flowed down her back). Her piercing brown eyes looked at Eugene, which would have been intimidating enough were she not holding an axe.

Leaning down, Annabella spoke to Eugene, "It doesn't look like you're seriously hurt. There's no reason to tell your father about this, right little Eugene?"

Eugene's eyes shifted from her face to the axe resting on her shoulder and back. He glared at her, "Y-You don't scare me!" However, it only took Annabella lifting the axe off her shoulder to get him to start running.

"That kid's too easy to scare," Annabella remarked, then looked at Pinocchio, "You must be new here." Before Pinocchio could respond she pointed the axe at him and said sternly, "Don't do that again. He wasn't making idle threats; if you had seriously hurt him, he could've gotten you thrown in jail. Got it kid?"

"She's right Pinocchio," Jiminy agreed, "And besides all that, there are better ways to solve your problems than with violence."

Pinocchio nodded, "Okay, I promise not to do anything like that ever again."

Annabella looked at Cornelia as she turned around, "I've found some jobs for us to do until father gets back. Come on."

Cornelia started to follow her sister, then stopped and turned to Pinocchio, "Thanks for defending me. Eugene really needed some manners knocked into him. Is there any way I can thank you?"

Pinocchio waved a hand as he smiled modestly, "Aw, you don't have to do anything, it was-"

"Psst, Pinocchio," Melissa got his attention, "The extra lessons?"

"Oh yeah!" Pinocchio remembered at that, "Do you think you could give me reading lessons?"

"Sure, you'll be reading in your sleep by the time we're done!" Cornelia smiled.

"Nellie!" Annabella yelled, and Cornelia ran to catch up with her sister.

"Well now, with her help you'll get caught up in no time," Jiminy said with a smile, "And if you need the help of a real teacher outside the class, you can come to me."

Melissa looked at the two sisters as they walked away, lost in her own thoughts for a moment. At Jiminy's words, she looked backed at him, "Wait a minute, you're a teacher?"

"Well, was, before my travels," Jiminy said.

Melissa stared at him, wondering what else there was about him she didn't know, but then shook her head and looked at Pinocchio, "Anyway, like he said, if you need even more help, come to us. That's why we're here."

"Gee, thanks guys," Pinocchio smiled back at his two consciences, "School was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, but I won't give up!"

"That's the spirit!" Jiminy nodded in approval, "Come on, let s go home."

The three friends started heading home, and this time there were no obstacles in their way.

* * *

"Ugh," Eugene kicked a stone on the street, rubbing the spot where Pinocchio's primer hit him, "who does that filthy girl think she is, threatening me like that? I'll find a way to make that boy pay for hitting me."

"Oh, out for a little revenge I see?"

Eugene turned around, looking for the source of the voice. He noticed a shadowed figure in an alleyway, and could tell right away that it wasn't human.

"I saw what happened," the figure whispered, "and I think you should press charges by all means."

Eugene just stared at the figure for a moment, then put his hands in his pockets and started shuffle off, "I don't take advice from the likes of you."

The figure repressed the urge to claw the boy to ribbons as they said calmly, "Is that it? Or does the older girl with the axe intimidate you that much?"

Eugene stopped and immediately wheeled around to face the figure, "She doesn't scare me in the least!"

"Fine, but if you do want protection, I could ensure that there would be no problems if you wanted to sent that boy to jail."

Eugene listened, and after thinking about it for a moment nodded, "Fine, what do I do?"

"Let's discuss the details tonight, at the Red Lobster Inn. For now, I have some people to meet."

"But I have to be in bed by... I mean yeah, sure, I'll be there," Eugene said quickly.

* * *

"Listen officers, I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement," Honest John called out to the two mastiff police officers, who were sitting at a table nearby, "I can assure you I had nothing to-"

"Ah shut up Foulfellow," one of the officers said, then turned back to the other officer, "Good thing you managed to catch them Alidoro."

"Wasn't too hard," Alidoro waved off the praise, "Those two aren't exactly inconspicuous."

As the police continued talking amongst themselves, Honest John scowled at Gideon, "Hmph, looks like there's no getting through to these guys. We'll have to think of another plan."

Gideon nodded in agreement and tried to think, but before he could try too hard someone came into the room.

"Excuse me, is this the jail?"

Everyone turned to see who had walked in. It was a female cat, with ragged sienna brown fur. Her fur and frayed, patched-up mauve and cream peasant dress would have made for a sorry enough sight. But on her eyes she wore a pair of opaque pince-nez glasses, and in her hands carried a cane and a tin.

"I-I'm sorry to trouble you, but I was told that this was the jail?" she spoke up again, looking every which way and keeping her ears open wide as she did.

"You're in the right place, Miss...?" Alidoro started.

"Gattina!" Honest John shouted from the cell, prompting a nearby officer to smack him over the head.

"Johnny?" Gattina looked in the general direction of the cell, tapping her way over, "Is that my dear friend Johnny?"

"Yes, yes, and your dear brother Gideon is in here with me," Honest John patted Gideon on the head.

"Giddy!" Gattina hastened her steps at that.

Alidoro stood and helped her over, stopping her before she ran into the cell bars, "You can visit for five minutes. We'll be over here, watching." He sat back down and watched with the other officer.

Gattina immediately took her brother's hands, putting one to his head, "Oh my poor baby brother! Are you okay?"

Gideon nodded, but a kick in the bottom from John changed that to a shake.

Gattina whipped out a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes at the edges of her specs, "Oh your friends are so worried. Eugene especially."

"Eugene, you say?" Honest John asked, tilting his head but keeping a sorrowful expression.

Gattina nodded, fingering the hanky, "Even since he heard you were locked up, he's been down at the Red Lobster Inn, drinking himself crazy and filling the empty mugs with tears! He said he's going to stay there all night if he wants." She flung herself around her brother, who nearly collapsed under his sister's weight as she cried into him.

"Oh poor Eugene!" Honest John grabbed Gattina's hand, stroking the handkerchief with his fingers as he comforted her, "Dear sweet Gattina, I know you wanted to see us, metaphorically speaking of course, but clearly it's Eugene that needs your help! Please, go to him now, he needs all the comfort he can get."

Gattina sniffed and nodded, "Okay. Promise you'll be okay?"

"We'll endure, just go," Honest John gentle pushed her in the direction of the door.

Alidoro again stood to lead her away, and once they got to the door, reached into his pocket and dropped six coins in her tin, "Have a good day ma'am."

"Bless you sir," Gattina nodded her head, pulled the brown shawl she wore tightly around her, and headed down the road.

"Why did you do that?" the other officer asked, "If she associates with these blokes my guess is she's faking."

"I'd rather be taken for a fool than for a cold heart," Alidoro shrugged.

"Speaking of which," the other officer turned to Honest John and held out a hand, "I saw you searching that handkerchief, so hands out!"

Honest John rolled his eyes and held them out. He held nothing, not in his hands, inside his gloves, his pockets, hat, nothing.

"Really officer, do you treat every visit with this much paranoia?" Honest John asked.

"As a matter of fact I do," he growled.

"Uncle Ambrose, relax," Alidoro calmed him, "you found nothing, let's get back to our card game."

Ambrose glared at Honest John one last time before going back to the table, "You're too soft-hearted. You weren't fooled by them when you caught them, but one of these days you're gonna get tricked by some pitiful face."

Honest John and Gideon went to the back of the cell where they wouldn't be heard if they spoke at a whisper. Honest John sneered as he rumbled Gideon's head fur a bit before pulling out a hairpin, "He's right. A crook's greatest asset is deception."

* * *

Once Pinocchio, Jiminy, and Melissa finally got home they immediately looked for Geppetto. They saw him in the bedroom, "Father, we're home!"

"Oh Pinocchio, glad you're home! Stay there, I have a surprise for you, Jiminy, and Melissa!"

"What do you think it is?" Jiminy asked Melissa.

"I dunno," Melissa shrugged, "There's not much a person could give a pair of crickets."

Geppetto walked into the room, "Come, come! This way, to the counter!"

They followed him to the counter, and their eyes were drawn to two things on it that were draped with cloth.

"First, Jiminy and Melissa's gift," Geppetto smiled down at the crickets perched on the brim of Pinocchio's hat, "You both have put yourselves at great risk in order to try and help my boy, and I can't thank you enough for all you've done."

"Aw shucks, it's really nothing," Jiminy smiled modestly, rocking on his heels and blushing.

"Really, it was," Melissa muttered quietly.

"To show my gratitude, I want to give you something to make you both feel... well, more at home," Geppetto's smile widened as he whipped off the cloth, "Wa-la!"

Jiminy and Melissa's jaws both dropped at what they saw. They both leapt onto the counter to get a closer look.

"Well I'll be!" Jiminy whispered in amazement, tilting his hat up so he could lift his gaze.

"Oh my..." Melissa grasped her necklace as if she were trying to steady her own heart.

"Do you like it?" Geppetto gestured to the small doll house, "It was actually meant for a family who wanted me to make a customized doll house for a specific set of tiny dolls their daughter had, but when she grew tired of the dolls they cancelled the order."

"Oh Mr. Geppetto, I'm so sorry to hear that!" Melissa looked at him with sympathy.

"Oh they paid me for my labor, but it was such a sorry sight, seeing such a beautiful doll house go to waste. No one ever bought the doll house itself, said it was too small."

It was small, small enough for bugs to walk around upright inside but still have a respectable amount of room. It was a two story carpenter gothic style house, with mahogany walls, tan trimmings and roof. Two bay windows were on either side of the first floor. A porch was in the center with a white porch swing and a green door.

"Well, those people were crazy," Jiminy decided, examining the house, "Because this is one of the finest doll houses I've ever seen."

"Well thank you," Geppetto smiled, "I also asked my friends Emilio, Lorenzo, Marco, and Stefano to help furnish it with clothes, metals, and candles. They managed to get it all done today."

"Wow, you really thought of everything," Melissa smiled, ignoring the urge to call that claim into question.

"Why don't you look inside?" Geppetto suggested, then looked at Pinocchio, "Do you want to see inside too?"

"Sure, but how?" Pinocchio looked at the tiny doll house.

"Well," Geppetto slowly turned it so the back was facing them, "Since this is a doll house, the back slides right out." He easily slid the back wall out of place and revealed the inside.

Jiminy and Melissa hopped inside. They'd landed in the living room, a warm room with a red rug over the mahogany floor. The walls matched the floor and were lined with bookshelves, and red-upholstered wooden furniture.

"My my, what a cozy looking room," Jiminy examined the intricately-carved furniture.

Melissa took a book off the shelf and flipped through it, "...They make books this small?" She sighed and bit back the questions growing within her.

"Now, the next room is the kitchen," Geppetto explained, motioning for the crickets to move across the entryway to the next door, "Which has its own hearth for cooking. I had that put in for you."

The kitchen had a similar color scheme, and had a modest-sized dining table big enough to seat five (presumably for guests). Cabinets and canisters lined the counter, and they noticed a washing basin with a water pump near the aforementioned open stone hearth.

Melissa looked at what was in the cabinets and canisters, seeing bread, berries, cheese, and other food. There was also salt, flour, butter, and other ingredients.

"Oh my God I can cook again!" Melissa was too happy to even question this.

"Your rooms are upstairs, Melissa's is to your left and Jiminy's your right. Once you're done with that, there's only the attic left."

The crickets had already gone back into the entryway and headed up the stairs in front of the main door. There were only two paths to take, so they each went their designated ways. Melissa peeked inside her room; it was simple, yet the sight of it rendered her speechless. There was a sleigh bed with a white blanket on the opposite wall, at the end of which was a dove chest. To her right she saw a double dresser and a wardrobe with a mirror on its door. On the left side of the bed she saw a two-drawer night stand with a lantern on top. Near it she saw a corner desk with a red winged armchair right by the window. Finally her eyes settled on a shelf unit right by the door to her left.

"Well, what do you think so far?" Geppetto finally asked.

"This is great Mr. Geppetto," Jiminy said as he came out of his room, turning to Melissa, "Right Melissa?"

Melissa was silent for a moment, her eyes still roaming over the room several times. She finally turned to Geppetto, "... I don't know what to say. Thank you, Mr. Geppetto."

Geppetto smiled at her, "Aw your welcome. Now you two may explore some more. I want to show Pinocchio his surprise. I'll put the wall back on." He picked up the back wall and attached it to the house.

Jiminy looked at Melissa with concern, "Are you okay?"

Melissa looked back at the room, "I... I don't know. I guess it just occurred to me that we were just given a house. I know that really it's just a doll house, but he went to all the trouble of refurbishing it for us, asking his friends to add their own touches. I just..."

Jiminy smiled and nodded, "I know."

Melissa looked back at him, then noticed a string hanging above the stairs, "Oh yeah, Geppetto said we should check the attic."

Jiminy turned around and saw the string, "Oh yeah." He walked over to the stairs, jumped up, and grabbed the string. A new set of stairs lowered down; small enough that Jiminy could get around them but big enough to climb up. Melissa began doing just that.

Melissa looked around the attic, and for what felt like the billionth time had to stare in bewilderment. Apparently while half was free for storage the other half doubled as a bathroom. There was a bathtub, a toilet, another washing basin, a towel rack, and a whole open-shelf cabinet with the necessities of a bathroom.

"Okay... seriously?" Melissa finally couldn't ignore the questions as she walked up to the bathroom, "What, did Geppetto install a plumbing system in one day too? And what's the point of the toilet? I haven't gone once since I've been- As if she'd said the magic words, she felt movement inside her, "...Shit."

* * *

"Now while they explore their new home, why don't I show you your surprise?" Geppetto said to a smiling Pinocchio.

"Sure," Pinocchio looked at the other cloth-covered surprise.

Geppetto grabbed a handful of the cloth, "Now, you're going to be a real boy from now on. So you should be treated a real boy. I started this on the first day you went off to school, and today I managed to finish it."

He pulled it off and revealed a small child-sized sleigh bed. The head board was spread out, almost like a treetop. Fittingly it was painted several shades of green with leaves carved into it, and a brown fleece blanket draped over it.

"Oh wow!" Pinocchio's smile widened at that, "My own bed?"

"Yep," Geppetto nodded, "I wasn't quite prepared for your arrival your first night, but now I can start making the things you'll need."

"Gee, thanks father," Pinocchio jumped up and hugged his father.

"Ah but that's not all," Geppetto smiled at his son. He picked up one end of the bed with a grunt, "Ugh-! Pinocchio, could you please help me?"

Pinocchio hurried to grab the other end, and the two struggled to carry it off. As they walked off, Figaro looked back to the doll house. He started towards it, then froze when Geppetto called out, "Figaro, don't even think about it! Come with us!" Figaro scowled slightly, sighed, and then followed up the stairs and through Geppetto's room.

Geppetto lead them to a door, then turned to Figaro, "Okay, now Figaro, can you get the door?"

Figaro went up to the door and jumped. He latched onto the doorknob and began to paw furiously until it clicked and swung open.

Once they were inside the two were quick to put the bed down. After they caught their breaths Pinocchio asked, "Father, how come we took my bed in here?"

"I'm glad you asked," Geppetto said once he was done gasping for breath. He stood and gestured to the room, which was filled with several toys along with a small work desk and a work chair, "Welcome to your new room!"

"I get my own room too?" Pinocchio ran around the room and looked at everything.

Geppetto chuckled a little, "I said I was going to treat you like the real boy you are."

After running around the room a bit more he ran up to hug Geppetto again, nearly knocking him to the ground, "Oh thank you Father!" He then ran out, "I'm going to tell Jiminy and Melissa!" He ran through Geppetto's bedroom, into the workshop, and straight to the doll house, "Jiminy, Melissa, you gotta see this!"

After a moment Jiminy came out, "What is it Pinoke?"

"Father gave me a bed, and then he gave me a room!" Pinocchio explained excitedly, "Oh you gotta see it!"

"Okay, but we'll have to wait a moment for Melissa," Jiminy said.

"Why?" Pinocchio asked.

"Well... that is, she-" Jiminy tried to explain, but Melissa hurried out.

"It's fine I'm done, let's see Pinocchio's room," Melissa said.

But before they could go anywhere, there was a knock on the door. Pinocchio headed to the door as the crickets looked on.

"Huh, I wonder who it could be," Jiminy wondered.

Pinocchio opened the door, and looked up at the man before him. He was middle-aged, but he was easily the tallest, most well-built and muscled man Pinocchio had ever seen. His skin was sun-tanned, his nose especially suffering to the point of being bright red, and he had messy brown hair that was peppered with gray. He was sweaty, as if he'd been working a great deal before coming here.

The man looked at Pinocchio with piercing brown eyes, his voice booming as he spoke, "Ah, so you're the boy I've heard about. Pinocchio, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Pinocchio nodded, "How do you-"

He was cut off when a familiar blonde girl poked her head around from behind the giant man. She was smiling brightly and seemed a lot happier than before as she waved, "Hi Pinocchio!"

"Cornelia," Pinocchio waved back, "Is this your father?"

Cornelia nodded as her father knelt to shake Pinocchio's hand, "Antonio Fausti. I understand you help my daughter today."

At that moment Geppetto walked in, "Ah, Antonio, Cornelia!"

"Hello Geppetto," Antonio stood up, "Lorenzo told me what happened to you."

"Oh good, then you know why I wasn't here to accept wood," Geppetto laughed. Antonio did not, but Geppetto didn't look too surprised or awkward, "So, I assume that's why you're here."

"Partly," At that Antonio picked up two big bundles of logs and carried them in. Likewise, Cornelia took a much smaller bundle and followed her father inside. Setting the wood inside he continued, "The other thing was regarding the lessons."

"Lessons?" Geppetto asked as he paid for the wood.

"Yes, apparently your son did something to help Cornelia. Though she hasn't told me what," Antonio glanced at his daughter, who was glancing down and twirling one of her braids. He looked back up at Geppetto, "She had promised to tutor him in return."

"Really?" Geppetto looked at his son, who looked between him and Antonio.

"Yes," Antonio nodded, "Now, whatever your son did, I appreciate that he helped Cornelia. But when she isn't at school or with the family, I need her to help me with work."

"Of course," Geppetto nodded. Cornelia looked down at the floor.

"Although," Antonio looked at the boy, "If he was willing to help me deliver logs after school, then the extra time Cornelia would have could be put to different uses."

"Ah, good point," Geppetto nodded and smiled, then turned to Pinocchio, "What do you think Pinocchio?"

"Well..." Pinocchio wasn't sure what to do.

Jiminy jumped onto his shoulder and whispered, "Go for it. You need the extra lessons, and it'll give you some work experience."

Pinocchio glanced at Melissa, who nodded in agreement, then looked at Antonio, "Sure, I can do that."

"Great, you can start tomorrow," Antonio nodded, "Just follow Cornelia after school and I'll give you two your delivery jobs." He placed the money in a pouch before heading for the door, "Well, have a good night Geppetto. Come on Cornelia."

"Okay," Cornelia was about to follow him, but before she did Geppetto slipped a tiny top into her hand. She slipped it into her pocket before following her father, waving goodbye, "Bye Mr. Geppetto, bye Pinocchio, bye Jiminy and Melissa!"

"Bye!" Jiminy and Melissa waved goodbye as well.

"Goodbye Cornelia," Geppetto waved goodbye to the little girl as she left. When the two of them were gone he smiled, "What a sweet little girl, and such a good daughter."

"She told me she has to help her father because he can't work like he use to," Pinocchio said before his cricket friends could stop him.

Geppetto sighed, "Yes. He is pretty strong for his age, but he isn't able to work like he use to. He has his wife to help, but... she isn't really built for work. She tries though, she tries." He seemed to realize he was talking too much and waved a hand, "But enough about that. Let's get dinner started!"

* * *

Later that night Jiminy crept down the stairs, gripping a lantern tightly as he maneuvered around the attic stairs (they'd decided to keep them down). His stomach growled as he reached the bottom, hungry for the bread that Melissa had spent some time making before bedtime. He tightened his robe's belt, put a hand on his stomach, and shushed it, "You'll wake up Melissa." He opened the kitchen door and stopped short as he saw Melissa sitting at the bay window, handling a small cup of water as she stared out towards the front of the house.

"Oh, Melissa!" Jiminy hadn't expected her to be up, "what are you doing up so late?"

"I'm just watching Figaro," Melissa said, glancing at him briefly before looking back at the cat, who was lurking out in front of the house.

Jiminy looked out the window to see the cat, who looked droopy-eyed. He looked at Melissa as he got a bit of bread from a bread box, "I don't think he'll try anything. As long as we're in here, I think we're safe."

"I suppose," Melissa continued to stare out the window, her gaze drifting from the cat and her eyes looking glazed.

Jiminy examined her for a moment as he munched on the bread, then sat at the table as he said, "Is there something wrong kid? You know you can tell me if there is."

"I know I know," Melissa tried to wave off his worries, "I just... I'm reluctant to fall asleep I guess."

Jiminy thought back to earlier that day, "Are you having nightmares?"

"Not nightmares, exactly," Melissa fiddled with the cup some more and looked into it as she spoke, "I keep... having flashbacks, I guess. About my family."

"Well, you miss them right? It's natural to dream about people you miss," Jiminy tried to reason.

"Of course I miss them," Melissa agreed, "It's just... the memories aren't really happy ones."

"Oh?" Jiminy asked, his curiosity peaked.

"The first couple were about the argument my mom and step-father had before I came here, which was all about not wanting to leave but needing to," Melissa explained, "And this one... it was after I went on my first and only date."

"Really? What happened?" Jiminy asked.

"My mother freaked out. She's... a bit of a man-hater," Melissa tried to explain.

"Oh? But she had you, and got remarried," Jiminy pointed out.

Melissa sighed, "It's... complicated. And stupid."

"I see," Jiminy nodded his head slightly, then when he finished the bread he got up and went to Melissa, "Well, maybe you're suppose to have these dreams? I get that these dreams aren't pleasant, but maybe you have some issues in you that you need to resolve."

"I figured that," Melissa muttered softly, not looking at him.

"So, maybe these dreams can help you figure out what you need to fix," Jiminy continued to reason. He sat by her before finishing, "And if you need someone to talk with about these dreams, you always have me."

Melissa finally glanced at him again, for a moment not doing or saying anything. She then nodded, "Thanks pops."

Jiminy smiled, and then stood up, "You going to be much longer?"

"No, I think I'll go up now," Melissa stood up as well, smoothing the blue nightgown as she followed Jiminy.

Jiminy lit their way upstairs before they split off towards their own rooms.

"Night Melissa," Jiminy said.

"Night Jiminy," Melissa returned before closing the door. Before going to bed she looked out the window and saw that Figaro had nodded off. She had to smile; in spite of everything, she found the sight of the sleeping kitten cute. She finally headed for bed and with a deep breath pulled the covers over herself.


	9. The Red Lobster

(Author's Note: Hey, this story is back! I know this chapter is kind of short, but it sets up what's to come, and gives us some time with the villains. Plus, I haven't updating in forver so... yeah. So I hope you enjoy.)

* * *

The jail was mostly silent, save for the snores from Alidoro. Honest John had been waiting for at least an hour, making sure their guard had gone into a deep enough sleep before acting.

"Alright, time to go," Honest John gestured towards the lock.

Gideon nodded, then began to pick the lock. After twisting the hairpin for a minute there was a click to signal their release.

"Ah, there we go," Honest John grinned as he slowly opened the door. They creeped passed Alidoro, trying to be silent as shadows.

Honest John and Gideon froze when they heard Alidoro snort a little in his sleep, then slowly turned to look at him. He was still leaning back in his chair, his hat having slid down over his face. They sped up their creeping and made for the door. Luckily for them, they managed to sneak out the door without trouble.

Honest John closed the door with a sigh and a chuckle, "That was easy. Come now Giddy, can't keep dear Gattina waiting."

Gideon nodded, following close behind him as they slinked from shadow to shadow, trying not to be seen. It took a while, but the two made their way to the inn. Right away they spotted Gattina by the door, still wearing her spectacles as she looked around for them. When they approached her, her ears twitched in the direction of their footsteps.

"Oh good sirs, if it isn't too much trouble, could you tell me if you saw a fox and cat coming this way?" Gattina asked in a small, meek voice. The two con animals smirked, causing Gattina to smirk and they all bursted out laughing.

"Ah Gattina, so how have you really been?" Honest John asked as Gideon hugged his sister.

"Eh, fine I suppose," Gattina shrugged, pushing Gideon off as they walked into the smoky tavern of the inn.

"How's the family?" Honest John asked.

The two con animals could tell she was rolling her hazel-green eyes behind her shaded glasses, and she responded with a scoff, "Pains, as always. Basilio is being a lazy man. I'm left to support the three of us." She then dumped some coins on the bar counter, addressing the bartender, "Hey Will, drinks are on me tonight. Or rather, on the police."

Honest John laughed as he took a seat, waiting for Will to bring him his usual, "And Nora?"

"She's fine too, really taken to the 'family business,'" Gattina said as she took off her pince nez, "That kid has potential. Makes me almost glad to be a mother."

As Will plopped three drinks down for them (Gideon immediately taking a gulp), the door opened again. A seven-year old poked his head in, coughing and wrinkling his nose at the sight and smell.

Will looked up, "Hey kid, you ain't allowed in here!"

Gattina glanced over her shoulder, "Relax, he's with us. Come over here kid."

As Eugene slowly walked up to them Honest John looked at him with a smile, "So, you must be Eugene."

Eugene took in the sight of the animals, with their tattered clothing, messy fur, and scheming eyes. He took a small breath, lifted his nose, and said in his usual rich-brat tone, "Maybe, who are you lot?"

"Well you've met Gattina," Honest John gestured to the dame, then to her brother as he continued drinking, "This is Gideon."

Gideon stopped, gave him a smile and a nod, then went back to his drink.

"And I am Honest John," Honest John said with a dramatic gesture, "Perhaps you've heard of me?"

"No," Eugene gave him a dismissive look.

"Really now," Honest John raised an eyebrow and smirked, "I say we inform the boy."

"Must you?" Eugene asked.

"Yes, now shut up kid," Gattina said before turning to Gideon, smacking him and causing him to choke a bit on his beer, "Gideon!"

Gideon nodded and pulled out a sweet potato ocarina which he started to play. Will and Gattina waited a few notes before they began to sing.

"Honest John, they call him Honest John," they sang in unison, "But I wouldn't touch him as far as I could-"

"Throw an elephant over my shoulder," Gattina threw her mug over her shoulder, making Eugene duck to avoid it.

"Throw a curve with a ten ton boulder," Will wound up another mug and tossed it as well, laughing as Eugene threw himself to the floor to avoid it. The two continued as Eugene hurriedly sat up and dusted off his clothes.

"Honest John, look out for Honest John! Cause he's only honest by reputation-"

"Though you'll find him in church on Sunday," Will put his hands together in a wide, exaggerated arc.

"He'll steal pennies from a blind man Monday," Gattina sat onto the bar and stelthily snuck coins from Will's pocket.

"Any old time that anything is gone," Will and Gattina sang in harmony, holding out their hands to Honest John as they finished, "Look for Honest John!"

"Oh you two flatter me so," Honest John waved his hand with a big smirk.

Eugene furrowed his brow, "Weren't you all suppose to help me?"

Gattina hopped off the bar and turned to the others, more or less ignoring Eugene, "Alright so I helped you lot get out of jail. Time to repay the debt."

"Yes well, I think I'd rather lay low for the time being," Honest John said after quickly finishing his drink, "You know how nasty police can be when you've just broken out. Come along now Giddy."

Before the two could even take a step they were faced with the wrong end of a gun. Gattina gave them a sweet smile as she drummed her claws on the bar, "Oh dear sweet Johnny, it must really have been far too long since we've last worked together if you've really forgotten how much I despise this kind of ingratitude. I've helped you break out of jail and paid for your drink. You're not really going to walk out on a job that I really need help for are you? You know I don't take rejection well."

Honest John let out a nervous laugh, "Eheh, of course not, I was only kidding! Dearest Gattina, whatever you need from us!"

With Gideon's fast nod Gattina holstered the gun and turned to a wide eyed and shaking Eugene, "Alright, sit down kid. We have some scheming to do."

Eugene slowly stumbled to his seat, still shaking as he stared at Gattina, "Um, w-w-what are you planning?"

"Well, you want to get that Pinocchio kid's father in trouble for his kid hitting you right?" Gattina asked, "Well-"

"Pinocchio?!" Honest John suddenly asked, "Did you just say Pinocchio? Is he a little wooden puppet?"

Gattina stared at him in silence for a moment, then spoke like he was a child, "No, he's a normal little boy. Any other questions?" When he didn't speak up she continued, "Anyway, you're thinking far too small kid."

"What do you mean?" Eugene asked.

"I mean, if Pinocchio does something truly bad, bad enough that he should go to jail for it, then you have several more possibilities. Like he'll disgrace his father's name and business, forcing them into poverty. Or his father might take the blame for him, going to jail for him and forcing Pinocchio either onto the streets, in an orphanage, or into slavery. Heck, we might even be able to help him along with that last option."

"Brilliant! Although, you may have to do that, he seems to have gotten wise to us," Honest John admitted meekly.

"Regardless," Gattina continued, "Before we look into slave trades we need to think of how to get him into trouble in the first place. I'm certain my little Nora can be of help."

"Nora?" Eugene finally spoke up.

"My daughter," Gattina explained dismissively, a scheming smile creeping on her face, "There's a poilce officer called Alidoro, and if there's two thing he has a weakness for, it's women and children. So if a little girl is involved, his stupid chivalry will surely be touched to the core."

"Okay, but how does any of this involve me?" Eugene asked.

"Kid, this is all for you," Gattina said, her sweet voice creeping back up, "Naturally you're the one to pay. You can't get something for nothing right?"

"W-what?! But I, all my father's money is back home!" Eugene said.

"So go get it," Gattina's smile didn't waver.

"B-But... But it's father's money... I can't tell him..."

"Listen kid." Gattina stood and leaned across the table towards Eugene. She put a paw on her holster as she continued in her sweet tone, "We're doing all the hard work here. We're about to risk our necks, break all these laws just so your classmate will pay for hitting you, which was your fault to begin with. Now I think asking for some compensation so that I can feed my family while you continue to live off daddy isn't asking very much, right?"

"Uh... I guess not," Eugene could barely breathe, "B-but... I'd have to steal from father..."

Gattina actually laughed at that, "What's a few hundred from a man of your father's wealth? He won't even notice or miss it." When she saw Eugene had nothing to say, she motioned him out, "Well I suppose that's that. Go to the town square tomorrow after school and bring the money to a little girl kitten. Stick around afterwards if you want to watch."

Eugene stared at her for a moment, then with a bit of a stumble ran out of the tavern.

"So," Honest John started, "Am I to take it you have a plan?"

"It's still developing, but yes," Gattina nodded, staring after the child, "And if we play our cards right we could be exploiting this for a long time."


	10. The Job

Author's Note: Okay, explanation time. One of the reason this has taken so long to update, aside for the business of college, is plain old technical problems. The fact of the matter is I didn't really have an idea who my characters were. I knew vaguely who they were, but I didn't know the details of their pasts, their personalities, interests, habits, ect. And when you're writing, you need to know your characters inside and out. And it wasn't just my original characters, I was having a bit of trouble writing for the established movie characters as well, which is even more difficult. I'm still writing out notes and profiles for characters, but for now I figured I should release something new. But just letting you know that any re-edits I do to previous and future chapters will most likely involve reevaluating characterization and trying to make the characters as a whole fleshed out.

* * *

"Melissa, I'd like you to meet Fred," Melanie gestured to the well-built blonde man in front of her, "Fred, this is my daughter Melissa. She's ten years old."

Fred held out his hand and smiled, "Aw, aren't you cute? Nice to meet you!"

Melissa stared at him, a look of confusion on her face. She eventually shook his hand, "Hi. Are you mom's lawyer, workout instructor, hair designer?"

"Melissa!" Melanie warned her curtly.

"Ah, no," Fred gave a bit of an uncomfortable look, "You see... Well, I don't think I should be the one to tell you..."

"We're getting married," Melanie said.

Melissa stared at them, looking betweeen them expectantly, "... You can't be serious Mom."

"I am," Melanie said, "And you-"

She didn't get to finish as Melissa ran to her room. She ignored her mother's yells as she slammed the door shut. Unfortunately that didn't stop her mother from following her, and she wished more than ever that she had a lock to her door.

"Melissa, stop acting like this," Melanie warned.

"No!" Melissa yelled, throwing her boogie man plush at her mother before curling up into a ball.

Melanie caught the toy and threw it to the floor, "Stop being a brat!"

"Stop being a hypocrite!" Melissa retorted from beneath her arms, "You always go on and on about how men are awful and will use women, and then you get engaged to a guy you don't even know?!"

"I do know Fred, he's from work!"

"Oh, well that make it so much better!" Melissa rolled her eyes.

"... Would you believe I got pregnant?" Melanie said weakly.

"Ha!" Melissa laughed bitterly and looked up, "With him?! He's so obviously gay-!"

"Melissa!" Melanie sounded more scandalized than angry.

"-Well he is! Why are you really marrying him?" Melissa demanded.

Melissa could see her mother shut down and knew further conversation was going to be impossibe, "Listen, the point is, we are getting married, and nothing is changing that. I thought as a member of this family you should know that." With that she left.

Melissa stayed like that for awhile until she heard a knock on the door. She looked up to see Fred standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Melissa," Fred said, a half-smile on his face, "Can I come in?"

She just stared at him for several moments. The silence stretched for a long time as Fred looked around the room, at anything but Melissa, finally settling on a basketball, "Oh, you play basketball? I play a little too and-"

"No, I don't," Melissa corrected him, "Mom got me that when I was little when she was trying to make me less of a girly-girl. I just shoot the hoop outside."

"Ah, that's nice," Fred nodded, twidling his fingers together as he continued, "Well exercise is very-"

"Why are you marrying my Mom?" Melissa cut him off.

Fred stared at her for a moment, then answered, "We're in love."

"I don't believe you," Melissa said, "You don't act like you're in love, you're acting like people doing business."

Fred looked at her for several moments, then sighed, "Alright, I'll be straight with you. Melanie might not like it but I guess you should know. I need a wife to get my parents off my back about marriage and children. Your mother is in serious debt, so she needs financial help. I know this may seem odd, but this marriage can help your mother and I out. Now, do you have any questions?"

* * *

Jiminy was in the kitchen, having made a sandwich before she got there. He looked up when the door opened, "Good morning Melissa."

"Mmshh," Melissa barely mumbled as she sat down, putting her backpack in her lap and finding food already in front of her.

"So, after school today is Pinocchio's first day of work," Jiminy reminded her.

"Yeah, seems everything's happening so fast," Melissa said as she pulled out a notebook, "School, now work."

"It's not so unusual," Jiminy said.

"For this time, I guess," Melissa said as she wrote in the notebook, "He still seems too young."

Jiminy then noticed what she was doing and changed the subject, "What are you writing?"

"I figured that I'd keep a record of all the dreams I've been having, who was in it, when it was, how old I was, what was said, stuff like that," Melissa explained, "Might be worth keeping track of."

"Ah, I see," Jiminy nodded in understanding, "Did you have another dream?"

"Yeah, it was about when I first met Fred," Melissa said as she continued writing.

"Did you get along?" Jiminy asked.

"We might have if they didn't announce their engagement in the same meeting," Melissa quipped.

"They were already engaged?" Jiminy sat up straighter at that.

"Yeah," Melissa sighed, "They were apparently co-workers, or rather he was a programmer while she was a janitor. They were friendly acquantinces beforehand and had talked about their problems. Between Mom's debts and Fred needing a girl to marry so his parents would get off his back, I guess they just wanted a way out of their situations."

"So there was no love in their marriage?" Jiminy asked.

Melissa thought about that, "I'm sure they grew to be closer friends, at least that's how I saw their relationship. But as far as husband-wife love, nope."

"Well, why couldn't Fred have waited to find a woman he was in love with?" Jiminy asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

Melissa surpressed a small smile as she said, "Because he was a homosexual, and even if his family wasn't a factor he was so religious that he wouldn't have gone after a man."

Jiminy's line of questioning was brought to an abrupt halt for a moment as he absorbed that bit of information. After a few seconds he found his voice, "But, your sister..."

Melissa looked up from her writing, "You don't need to be heterosexual to impregnate a woman, as Fred proved."

Jiminy opened his mouth to respond, then after a moment shut it. He promptly got up and walked towards the door, "I'm going to go see if Pinocchio's awake."

Melissa watched him walk out, then snorted as she picked up her sandwich.

* * *

"Class dismissed," Master Aquila said, waving a hand in dismissal.

The moment the words left his mouth, the kids jump out of their seats. Pinocchio didn't follow the wave of students, and instead walked up to Cornelia.

"Hi Pinocchio, Melissa, Jiminy," Cornelia greeted them with a smile as she picked up her book, "Ready to go?"

"I sure am!" Pinocchio followed her out, "So what do we do?"

"We need to wait for Annabella for a moment," Cornelia said, "She's been out doing jobs all day, so try not to talk too much."

"Wait, she's been out all day?" Jiminy asked, "But she has to be at least thirteen."

"Twelve, actually," Cornelia corrected him.

"Shouldn't she be in school?" Jiminy asked.

"Well..." Cornelia averted her eyes, "She said she needed to be out earning money for the family."

"But what about her schooling? How will she ever make something of herself without a proper education?" Jiminy insisted.

"I won't," the familiar voice of Annabella said from behind them.

"Oh, Anna!" Cornelia said, "How was your day?"

Annabella ignored Cornelia as she glared at Jiminy, "You don't know what you're talking about, so let me set you straight grasshoper."

"Grasshop-" Jiminy was silenced when Annabella leaned down at him, gulping down his indignation.

Annabella began speaking slowly, her voice raising in volume as she went on, "My family is poor. We need every bit of money we can scrape up to survive. Father is getting old, my so-called step-mother is a lousy worker, so it's up me and Cornelia to bring money home. That's how we were born in this world, and there's nothing we can do to change that. The best we could hope is some louse wanting to marry us, but no one is going to want two dirt-poor woodcutters. I know what's best for me and how to get by in the world, and I resent some hoity-toity little bug thinking he knows better than me how to live my life! I refuse to be looked down on by a bug!"

"Anna, please!" Cornelia walked up to her sister, "It's okay, he just doesn't understand."

Annabella took a deep breath, then stood back up "Come on kids, there's work to do."

As Annabella and Cornelia started walking, Pinocchio seemed rooted to the spot. Cornelia noticed and quickly grabbed his hand.

"Wow," Melissa said in a hushed voice, "To be so jaded at twelve..." She looked at Jiminy, and poked the wide-eyed cricket, "You okay pops?"

Jiminy snapped out of it, shaking his head, "Hmph. Well, at least Cornelia seems to appreciate a good education."

"Honestly, I'm a little surprised you care so much," Melissa said, "I know you're a teacher, which is still weird to me for some reason, but do you really expect an education to help a girl in this time period?"

"Melissa, no one is above or below getting an education," Jiminy gave her a hard look.

Melissa shrugged, "Well, that's a rather progressive attitude. I'm kind of happy to hear that."

Jiminy had no idea how to respond to that, so he just shrugged as well, "Well I don't see how that's progressive, just common sense as far as I'm concerned."

"Maybe I just have a skewed idea of what things are like in whatever time period this is," Melissa said, "What year is it anyway?"

"Um... eighteen eighty-one, I believe," Jiminy said.

"You don't know for sure?" Melissa asked, eyebrow raised.

Jiminy was silent for a moment, then shrugged, "Once you get to a certain age, you stopped trying to pay attention to time, especially when you travel and live day by day."

Melissa thought about that, many questions popping into her head at that.

Cornelia suddenly spoke up, "There's Mother and Father!" She ran up to them, dragging Pinocchio with her.

Antonio was standing by a cart, an axe over his shoulder just like Annabella. Beside him was a much younger and pretty woman, who looked like Cornelia if she was grown up. The big difference was, while Cornelia had long hair in braided pigtails, her mother's was cut so short it made Melissa stare.

'I didn't think women wore their hair so short at this point in time,' Melissa thought.

The woman smiled at Pinocchio, "You must be Pinocchio. My name is Clarissa Fausti, feel free to call me Clarissa. Cornelia has told me so much about you and your little friends." She glanced at the crickets, giving them a smile as well.

Jiminy took off his hat and bowed, "Hello milady. Cricket's the name, Jiminy Cricket."

Melissa nodded politely to the woman, "And I'm Melissa Chambers."

Pinocchio smiled back at Clarissa, "Nice to meet you. Are you Cornelia's mother?"

Clarissa nodded, "Yes I am."

"Since we're all here, we should get going," Antonio interupted.

As they started walking, Pinocchio talked with Jiminy and Melissa, "Does everyone have a mother?"

"Well, at some point, yeah," Melissa said.

"Who's my mother?" Pinocchio asked.

Jiminy and Melissa glanced at each other, "Umm..."

"Technically the Blue Fairy, I guess," Melissa said.

"Ah, that's right," Jiminy nodded, "She did give him life."

"What are you guys talking about?" Cornelia asked as she walked back up to them.

"Jiminy and Melissa said my mother is the Blue Fairy," Pinocchio explained.

Cornelia raised an eyebrow at them, "Okay..."

Melissa looked at Pinocchio from the brim of his hat, "Hey kid, that might not be something to tell others."

Pinocchio looked up at her, "Why? Aren't I suppose to be truthful?"

"Well, yes," Melissa said, "It's just, if you talk about the Blue Fairy, people might get confused. Not everyone has a fairy for a mom, so they may not understand." As she said this, she felt so silly trying to explain why telling people that a fairy was your mother was, perhaps, not such a good idea.

"Well... okay," Pinocchio said, though his tone was unsure.

Antonio, who'd been pulling the cart, suddenly stopped. They weren't even in the forest yet. He was trying to catch his breath.

Clarissa walked up to him, "I'll pull it from here Tony. You should save your strength for the trees."

Antonio didn't respond for a moment, then slowly stepped away from the cart. Clarissa immediately took his place and started pulling. Pinocchio noticed that she was even slower and looked at Cornelia, "Why is she going slower?"

"Because she's a spoiled bourgeoise," Annabella muttered.

"Huh?" Pinocchio tilted his head.

"A high-class rich woman," Jiminy explained.

"Oh, I thought your family was poor," Pinocchio said.

"We are," Cornelia said, "Mother's family disowned her after she married Father."

"Wow, she must really love your father to leave her family behind," Jiminy remarked.

"Once again, you don't know what you're talking about," Annabella rolled her eyes, "She ran away from home because she didn't want an arranged marriage. She just married father so her family couldn't force her back."

As Jiminy and Annabella glared at each other, Pinocchio looked at Cornelia, "So why didn't Clarissa want to marry the other guy?"

"She said that she didn't want her marriage decided for her," Cornelia explained, "She wanted to decide for herself. I'm glad she did though; if she didn't, she would've end up Eugene's mother. No one should have to be Eugene's mother."

"Eugene's dad almost married Clarissa?" Melissa asked.

"Yeah, he ended up marrying her sister instead," Annabella said.

"So... wait," Melissa looked at them, "Doesn't that make Eugene Cornelia's cousin?"

Annabella and Cornelia wrinkled their noses at each other.

"By blood, but mother's family disowned her, so he's not really my cousin," Cornelia said.

"I... don't think it works that way," Melissa said slowly.

Antonio stopped, looking at them, "We're here. Time to get to work."

As Clarissa took a moment to catch her breath, she took out three axes, one bigger than the others. She walked up to Pinocchio and Cornelia, handing them the two smaller axes, "Here you go. Nellie, can you show him what to do while we work?"

Cornelia put her books in the cart and took the axe, "Yes Mother." She turned to Pinocchio, "Mother and Father are going to cut down the trees, and we are going to cut it into smaller parts. Just do what Annabella and I do."

Antonio and Clarissa started on the first tree, while the three children stood aside.

Cornelia turned to Annabella, "Has anyone in your class been found?"

Annabella shook her head, "No, not yet. What about your class?"

"There are still lots of boys missing," Cornelia said.

"What happened?" Pinocchio asked.

"Awhile ago several boys in the village went missing," Cornelia said with a sigh, "No one knows what happened."

"I heard that the cops arrested some people and are holding them for questioning," Annabella said, her eyes cast sideways, "I hope they found out something..."

Cornelia grabbed Annabella's hand, "Don't worry, Officer Ambrose won't stop until he finds Lampwick."

Annabella tensed a little, pulling her hand away and crossing her arms, "What makes you think I'm worried about him?"

This all caught Pinocchio's attention, "You know Lampwick?"

Cornelia looked at Pinocchio, "He's one of her classmates. He disappeared at the same time as all the other boys."

Jiminy looked at Melissa, "You think...?"

"Can't imagine there's too many kids called Lampwick," Melissa pointed out.

"But, I've met him! He got turned into a donkey!" Pinocchio told the sisters.

Cornelia and Annabella looked at him, "What?!"

Pinocchio opened his mouth to continue, then stopped and looked at the crickets, "Is this like with the Blue Fairy? Should I say anything?"

"Yes, you should!" Jiminy and Melissa said in unison.

Annabella put her hands on Pinocchio's shoulders, "What do you mean? When did you see him?"

"Well, I got this ticket, and we went to an island, and everyone turned into a donkey!" Pinocchio explained.

"This island... was it called Pleasure Island?" Annabella asked.

"Yeah, it was!" Pinocchio nodded.

Annabella stared at Pinocchio for a while, her eyes practically piercing him and making him shift beneath her gaze. Finally she stood up, "Go to the police. Tell them everything you know."

"Huh? But aren't I suppose to be-" Pinocchio started to ask.

"We've been doing this ourselves for years," Annabella insisted, "One more day won't hurt. So just go."

Jiminy had been looking at Annabella contemplatively, then nodded, "Thank you Miss Annabella."

"We'll come back as soon as we can," Melissa said.

"I'll go tell you if we finish first," Cornelia said.

Pinocchio nodded, then turned and ran towards the village.

* * *

At town square, there was a Punch and Judy performance going on, so most of the people in the square were off on one side. The only person not in the crowd was a young female kitten. Her brown fur was dirty, and her brown eyes were kept low.

Alidoro was heading to the performance to oversee the crowd when he spotted her sitting by herself. He immediately went over and, pulling out a silver coin, dropped it in her tin.

Nora smiled at Alidoro, "Thank you officer."

"My pleasure little lady," Alidoro looked between her and the crowd, "Don't you want to watch the puppet show?"

"No that's fine," Nora shook her head, "I have to collect money for dinner, and I'd feel bad watching without being able to give something back."

Alidoro wanted to ask her to come with him and he'd pay extra, but at the sight of how little money she had to buy dinner he decided to let her be. He did put two more silver coins in and tipped his hat, "Have a good day."

Nora nodded and called as he walked off, "You too!"

Eugene entered the town square, looking around and spotting Nora almost immediately. She was the only anthropomorphic cat in the square, and was a tiny version of Gattina. Except while Gattina had an air of menace to her, this kitten looked like you could breath on her and she'd fall over. She held a green and purple blanket tight around her with one paw as she held out a tin with the other. As Eugene got closer he noticed that her right leg was in a cast.

Nora looked up at the approaching boy, "You must be the boy."

Eugene inhaled a little and said, "I am not just some boy, you know. My father is the most successful fish merchant in the village."

"I know," Nora said with a nod, then pulled out a deck of old, worn-out cards, "Since we might be waiting awhile, shall we amuse ourselves?"

"I don't know how- I mean, I don't play card games," Eugene quickly said.

"That's okay, it's not really a normal card game," Nora said, and held out a few cards, "Please pick a card."

Eugene stared at her, then grabbed a card, "Well, I don't want to be bored."

"Look at your card carefully," Nora instructed, "then put it back with the rest."

Eugene raised an eyebrow, but did as she said, examining the queen of hearts in his hand. He put it back.

Nora shuffled the cards thoroughly, then once they were fanned out again she took a moment to examine the backs of the card before picking one. She held it out, "Is this your card?"

Eugene's mouth fell open, "How did you do that?!"

Nora smiled, "If you want to bet a coin on another game, I'll show you again. I'm sure a smart kid like you can figure it out."

Eugene smiled back, "Fine by me!"

Five game and five silver pieces later, Eugene was still stumped.

"This is stupid!" Eugene declared, "You're just scamming me! How did you-" He suddenly stopped as his eyes fell on the cards, "Wait a minute..." He picked some of the cards up, examining the backs, "You're looking at the markings on the backs!"

"See, you are smart!" Nora just smiled, then handed him his money back, "Here, you can keep this. You're paying enough already."

Eugene looked at her with a raised eyebrow, then pocketed the money, "So why am I here anyway?"

"You just need to witness it and agree with what I say," Nora explained, then looked down one of the streets, "Is that him?"

Eugene looked as well, "Yeah, that's him!"

Nora dumped the contents of her tin in a paw as she said, "Okay, just remember what I said."

* * *

"Where are we going to find the police?" Melissa asked.

"We could probably just try and find a policeman that's out on patrol," Jiminy suggested.

"But wouldn't it be easier to just find the station?" Melissa asked, "We could walk around all day and not run into an officer."

"Hmmm... maybe we should ask around," Jiminy said, "There's got to be someone who can point us in the right direction."

As Pinocchio continued to look around, he was suddenly stopped by a raggedy female kitten, "Oh, hello! Do you know where I can find the police?"

"Oh, I'm not sure," Nora said as she stepped close to Pinocchio, holding her tin out with one hand, "I'm sorry to trouble you, but could you spare some money?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have any money," Pinocchio stepped back to restore his personal space.

"Hey Pinoke, there's a police officer," Jiminy whispered to him, pointing behind Nora.

"Excuse me, I have to talk to the officer," Pinocchio said as he tried to get past her.

As Pinocchio got past her, Nora fell to the ground hard as if she was thrown, "Ow! Help, I've been robbed!"

"What?" Pinocchio turned back to her, as well as some nearby audience members.

"What is she-" Melissa was cut off as the police officer grabbed Pinocchio.

"Okay, what's going on?" Alidoro asked.

By now Nora had worked up some tears, and looked up at Alidoro with the most pitiful expression, "O-Officer, I w-was just trying t-to ask him if he had a-any money to spare, b-but he called me a nasty name, took the money I did have, and tried to run off!"

"No! No I didn't, I swear!" Pinocchio told the officer.

"That right, she's telling a bald-faced lie!" Jiminy agreed.

"He has my money in his pocket! It was five coppers and three silvers," Nora insisted.

"Son, would you mind emptying your pockets?" Alidoro asked.

"Go on kid, you have nothing to hide," Melissa said.

Pinocchio did as told, and pulled his pockets inside out. Eight coins fell out of the right pocket immediately.

"Huh?" Pinocchio stared at the money.

"See?!" Nora pointed at the money, "T-That money was going to go to my family's dinner, and he took it from me!"

"No, it wasn't me, I don't know how those got in my pocket!" He looked around, trying to find someone to speak for him.

Nora pointed at Eugene, "He saw the whole thing!" She looked at Eugene, "Please, tell him the truth!"

Eugene jumped a little as he suddenly became part of the situation. He looked at Pinocchio and Nora, both of whom were tearing up. He took a small gulp and said, "Yeah, I saw it. He grabbed the money and pocketed it."

"No!" Pinocchio wailed.

"I'm sorry son, but you'll have to come down to the station for now," Alidoro readjusted his grip on Pinocchio as he gathered the coins, handing them back to Nora, "Here you go."

"Thank you sir," Nora smiled through her tears, then the smile fell as Pinocchio was dragged off.

"Please, wait! I'm innocent, I swear!" Pinocchio struggled to get out of Alidoro's grip.

"This will go a lot easier if you stop resisting," was all Alidoro said.

"Jiminy, we have to do something! Get someone so that they can help!" Melissa said.

Jiminy nodded in agreement, then turned to Pinocchio, "Just do whatever the police want, and we'll be back as soon as we can."

Pinocchio looked at his friends through tear-filled eyes, then nodded and stopped resisting. With that, Jiminy and Melissa started running as fast as they could for help.


	11. The Arrest

Author's Notes: Hello everyone! If my outline of the story turns out to be accurate, we have reached the halfway point of the story. Yay! And it only took three years :P Yeah... Anyway, I do want to try to update more. And not just this story, my other fanfics have kind of been abandoned (even more than this one). So I need to try to write more, if nothing else than because I need the practice.

* * *

"Now, should the eyes be blue or green?" Geppetto muttered under his breath, turning the doll's face back and forth in one hand and tapping a paint brush on the table with the other.

Figaro meowed, pawing at the brown paint.

"Oh? So you think the eyes should be brown?" Geppetto asked.

Figaro nodded, and as Geppetto dipped the brush in the paint, little voices called out.

"Mr. Geppetto! Mr. Geppetto!" the little forms of Jiminy and Melissa were hopping across the shop, trying to reach him as he began painting the doll's eyes. They jumped up to the counter and tried to get his attention, but now Geppetto was deeply engrossed with his work and was humming to himself.

"Mr. Geppetto, you have to come with us! Pinocchio is-" Melissa stopped as she and Jiminy heard a growl behind them.

Instantly Jiminy jumped onto Figaro's tiny little nose and started scolding him, "Not now Figaro! Pinocchio's in trouble and we have no time for your antics!"

Figaro froze as Jiminy wagged a finger in front of him, and after a moment shrank back with his ears folded back.

Melissa jumped onto the doll's head, "Geppetto!"

"Oh! Hello Melissa, having a good day?" Geppetto smiled down at the cricket absentmindedly, then frowned, "Wait, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you and Jiminy be with Pinocchio?"

"Pinocchio's in trouble!" Jiminy jumped onto the doll's head as well.

"He's been arrested!" Melissa said.

That made Geppetto jump to his feet, "He's what?! I thought you were suppose to keep him out of trouble?"

"It's not his fault this time," Jiminy explained, "He was framed by this little street urchin."

"She said he pushed her and robbed her, but we were there, he did nothing of the sort!" Melissa insisted.

Geppetto dropped the doll, sending the crickets to the counter, pacing a little, "Oh my little Pinocchio. I have to go! I have to do something!"

Jiminy picked himself up, "He's probably in jail by now."

"Okay, then I'll go now," Geppetto started heading for the door, then turned back to the crickets, "Does Antonio and his famly know?"

"No, they sent him into town when this happened," Melissa said.

"Okay, you guys go tell them," Geppetto said, "Aside for you two, they are the last people who saw him. They might be able to help."

"Um... how? They didn't see it," Melissa questioned, but Gepetto was already out the door.

Jiminy looked at Melissa, "Come on, let's go find them!"

Melissa sighed as they got back to the floor, "Okay, although I still don't see how they're going to help."

* * *

"Annabella, are you okay?" Cornelia asked, stumbling to keep her balance with all the logs both in her arms and strapped to her back.

"Yes, I was the one that sent Pinocchio away, father was right to be mad at me," Annabella said.

"No, I mean... With what Pinocchio said..." Cornelia trailed off.

Annabella shifted her own logs, then looked at Cornelia, "Do you need me to carry some of those?"

Cornelia made a face at the change of subject and the unusual suggestion, "I'm fine, I can do it! Anyway, do you think Pinocchio's still at the station?"

At that moment Cornelia felt something land on her head, and heard a voice say, "Girls, there's trouble! Lots of it!"

"Jiminy?" Cornelia responded to the voice, then felt another small being land on her head, "Melissa?"

"What are you two doing here?" Annabella asked, "Where's Pinocchio?"

"He was arrested!" Melissa said.

"What?!" Cornelia's eyes widened at the news.

"That kid, arrested? What could he have possibly done?" Annabella picked up the two crickets and held them in one of her hands.

"That's the thing, he didn't do anything!" Jiminy explained, "He was on his way to the station, and he was stopped by this kitten. She was begging for money, then suddenly she threw herself to the ground, saying Pinocchio tried to rob her."

"Of course he wasn't, but when he checked his pockets, the money was there!" Melissa continued, "She must have slipped the money in there at some point."

"Did anything else happen?" Cornelia asked, "Was anyone else there?"

Jiminy thought about it, "Well, there was that rapscallion Eugene."

"Yeah, he was the one who also said he saw Pinocchio steal!" Melissa agreed.

"Of course he did," Annabella rolled her eyes.

"We should find him!" Cornelia suggested, "He probably just said it to get back for yesterday."

"That's not a bad idea," Jiminy nodded.

"Wait, Cornelia, we still have all this wood to deliver," Annabella stated, "If we don't deliver on time, we might not get money for dinner."

"But if Pinocchio is arrested, it could ruin our family's reputation, since we've hired him," Cornelia countered.

Melissa felt the urge to point out that he hadn't really worked for them yet and this was only his first day, but held her tongue as she saw that the idea gave Annabella pause.

After a moment, Annabella sighed and asked, "You said this happened at the square?"

"Yes," Melissa said.

"Alright, let's go," Annabella shifted the two crickets to her shoulder and started walking to the square.

* * *

Geppetto burst into the jail, "Pinocchio?!"

"Father!" Pinocchio called out from behind bars.

"Ah, Mr. Tiraboschi, we were just about to come get you," Alidoro said, "This boy says he's your son."

"Yes, yes he is," Geppetto was barely paying the policedog any heed as he rushed to the cell that Pinocchio was in. The two hugged as best they could through the bars.

"Father, I didn't do anything, honest I didn't!" Pinocchio insisted, tears welling up again.

"I know son, I know," Geppetto said, then turned to the policedog, "He's a good boy, he would never do this."

"We understand Mr. Tiraboschi," Alidoro said, "But we have a witness saying they saw him do it, plus he had the money in his pocket. We can't just ignore this."

"But... but I didn't," Pinocchio fell to his knees, the tears now rolling down his cheeks.

Geppetto turned his attention back to the boy, "Oh my little boy..."

"I don't understand," Pinocchio looked up at his father as he tried to wipe the tears away, "I didn't do it, why am I being punished for something I didn't do?

Geppetto was silent for a moment, trying to find the right words to explain. He took a breath before he started, "Sometimes bad things happen to good people, even when it isn't fair or deserved."

Pinocchio just looked confused, "But... then what's the point of being good, if bad things happen to you either way?"

"Oh no no no," Geppetto quickly backpedalled, trying to think of what to say now, "Being good is its own reward! You can hold your head high with the conviction that you were not a bad person."

Pinocchio just stared at his father with an unsure gaze.

At that moment Ambrose walked in, looking frazzled, "Ugh..."

"No luck Uncle Ambrose?" Alidoro asked.

"No, they managed to get away, can't find hide or hair of em," Ambrose was growling in frustration.

"Don't worry Uncle, we'll find them," Alidoro said with a half smile.

Ambrose barely paid attention to his encouragement, "I swear, when I get my hands on those criminals, I'll wring their neck and-"

"Uncle, please watch what you say next," Alidoro said, "There's a child present."

Ambrose finally took notice of the other people in the room, "Oh. This the pickpocket you caught?"

"Alleged pickpocket," Alidoro corrected.

"So this is your kid, Geppetto?" Ambrose asked, "Well, sorry this is how I meet him."

"That makes two of us," Geppetto muttered.

"Don't take it too hard," Ambrose said, "Most kids go through a deliquent phase. You should see all the things Romeo has gotten into..." He seemed to trail off at that, his eyes looking distant for an instant before he shook his head, "Anyway, you're a good man, I'm sure you can set him right."

Geppetto suddenly turned to him, "The difference between Pinocchio and Lampwick is that he never did anything bad."

Pinocchio looked down at that as Ambrose bristled a little, "Now look here Geppetto, I know more than anyone that any father's first instinct is to deny that his son is doing anything wrong, but ignoring the problem doesn't fix anything! If you aren't careful, your kid could end up back here."

"Now see here-" Geppetto started.

"Wait, father!" Pinocchio interupted him.

"Quiet son, I'm defending you," Geppetto waved a dismissive hand at Pinocchio's words.

"But father, you said something about Lampwick!" Pinocchio insisted, remembering why he came back into town.

"Yes, and what of it?" Ambrose asked.

"I know where he is!" Pinocchio said.

All at once, Ambrose and Alidoro's attentions were drawn to the boy.

* * *

"Okay, this is where it happened," Melissa said as they entered the square.

"So what exactly happened?" Cornelia asked as Annabella looked around.

"Pinocchio was trying to find a police officer to talk with," Jiminy explained, "And this kitten stepped into his path, asking for money. When Pinocchio tried to walk past her, she just fell to the ground, claiming he robbed her. This nearby policedog had him empty his pockets, and the money was there! Then the kitten asked Eugene to tell what he saw, and Eugene said he did it!"

"Sounds suspicious to me," Annabella muttered.

"Do you think Eugene and that kitten were working together?" Cornelia asked, "I know Eugene's a jerk, but sending someone innocent to jail?"

"I wouldn't put anything past that bourgeois brat," Annabella spat, "Probably thinks a knock on his high-and-mighty head is worth jail time."

"Well, it was technically assault," Melissa muttered, but her comment was ignored.

"Where would we find him?" Jiminy asked.

"I don't know where he goes after school," Cornelia said, glancing around, "He's probably at home, or-"

"Look!" Melissa pointed. Down one of the streets leading out of the square, the small group saw Eugene crossing.

"There's the brat," Annabella scowled.

"Let's go, while we can still catch up!" Jiminy said.

The two girls started to run towards him as fast as they could with the bundles of wood. They stopped abruptly when they spotted a small anthropomorphic kitten waiting in the alley. Annabella grabbed Cornelia and pulled her aside so they weren't as conspicuous.

"Is that the kitten?" Cornelia asked.

"That's her, alright," Jiminy confirmed.

"I've seen her before," Annabella said, "She and her mother are beggars." She glanced at the cast on the kitten's leg, "She always seems to have some part of her injured."

They stopped talking as they got closer. They heard Eugene speak up, "Why am I back here? You got your money, he's in jail, what more is there to do?"

"All I know is my mother wants to talk to you," Nora said.

"Why exactly should I talk to you all again?" Eugene crossed his arms, "I got what I wanted."

Nora glanced down the alley, "You've seen my mother's gun? It's not just for show." She left it at that as she turned and hobbled down the alley.

Eugene visibly paled, and after a moment for the implication to sink in, he began to follow her. Not far behind were the girls and the crickets.

"Looks like you were right," Cornelia whispered.

Annabella merely nodded as they continued to trail them.

Eugene glanced at Nora's leg as she hobbled, "... Doesn't that hurt?"

"Hm?" Nora followed his glance, "Oh, no!" She knocked on the cast with a smile, "Can't very well hurt when it's not really broken."

Eugene just stared at her, "You guys really are a bunch of crooks."

Nora didn't really react to that, just smiled at him, "Technically you're one too now. You're just as culpable for this as the rest of us."

Eugene looked away, not appreciating her bluntness, and instead said coldly, "You sure have a big vocabulary for some street urchin."

Nora glanced sideways, "That's my father's doing. He wants me to be educated, even if I can't go to school. He says that a good education-" Her words trailed off, then quickly whispered, "We're getting close."

Eugene stiffened at that. They were approaching a turn. As the two turned, the following group hid behind the corner as they tried to surreptitiously peek around it.

Immediately Jiminy and Melissa noticed two familiar faces.

"Hey, it's that crook, Honest John!" Jiminy whispered to Melissa.

"Wasn't he arrested?" Melissa asked, "What, is the prison made of cardboard?"

Honest John and Gideon were standing on either side of Gattina. They both were looking over their shoulders, as if they expected the police to show up and drag them away. Gattina, on the other hand, was fully focused on the two arriving children. In one hand she held a large bag, a loaf of bread peeking out from the top.

Nora was looking down, and she was now mumbling as she spoke, "I brought him, Mother."

"I see that," Gattina said, grabbing a bun from the bag and tossing it at Nora's face, "Here, you've earned your dinner for tonight."

Nora started as the small bun hit her and hurried to catch it before it hit the ground. She clutched it to her chest as she smiled, "Th-Thank you."

Eugene watched the exchange, a feeling he was unable to name rising inside him. But instead of acting on that feeling, he looked at the bag, "Have you spent all the money already?"

"Of course not," Gattina said, slapping away Gideon's hand as he tried to reach inside the bag, "Just enough that you can't easily take back the money if it's absence is noticed."

Eugene blinked a little, his eyes widening, "Why... You said it wouldn't be noticed."

"Of course I did, how else were we suppose to get the money from you?" Honest John said.

Eugene continued to stare, "I... I'm going to get in trouble! Give me back the money!"

Gattina just laughed, "Really, kid? Even if I felt like giving it back, a fourth of it missing is going to still be missing."

"A-A fourth?" Eugene sputtered, then balled his fists, "Then I'll tell my father!"

The three adult anthros just smirked and glanced at each other, and as Honest John and Gideon walked towards Eugene Gattina spoke, "Quite the lip for a seven year old. Even so, I assumed you were smarter than that. You'd really get in trouble if you did that. You think your father would stop being angry at you just because you turned us in? You'd still be punished, maybe even disowned."

"I... No, he wouldn't..." Eugene said.

"Of course he would, and you know it," Gattina said, her eyes piercing his, "You should feel grateful we're so trusting of you, given what you've just said. We have... various methods of keeping you silent, if we feel."

Eugene saw her hand rest on her pistol. He also noticed that Honest John and Gideon, who had moved behind him, had ropes. He started shaking.

Gattina then cleared her throat, "Now, you must be wondering why we had you come here."

Eugene didn't speak. He was looking at her as meekly as Nora was.

"Well, seeing as we're so nice as to let you go back home, I think you owe us a little something," Gattina said, "You get a monthly allowance, don't you? I think that's more than fair compensation for keeping you out of trouble? We'll even help you come up with an excuse for your missing money."

Eugene still said nothing. He was shaking like a leaf.

"Gee, he's in quite the tough spot," Jiminy commented.

"Yeah," Melissa agreed, "We should get him out of there. Then we can convince him to tell the truth."

Honest John's ears twitched. He glanced behind him, then whispered, "Did you hear that?"

Gideon tilted his head, digging a finger in his ear, then putting a hand to the side of his ear.

Honest John nudged Nora, "Watch the kid." At Nora's nod, both he and Gideon turned and headed for the corner.

As soon as she saw them approach, Cornelia tossed both her bundles of wood at the two villains. In the confusion, Annabella grabbed the dumbstruck Eugene and turned quickly to retreat.

"Nora! Get them!" Gattina ordered.

Nora tried to follow, but almost immediately tripped due to the cast.

"Ugh, I have to do everything around here," Gattina growled in disgust, whipping out the pistol and giving chase.

The girls were almost down the first alley when Gattina turned the corner and leveled her gun as she continued to chase them.

"Woah! Girls, look out!" Jiminy warned.

Like her sister, Annabella didn't need to think as she tossed one bundle of wood behind her. Gattina dodge it, but needed to relevel the pistol just as the girls exited the alley.

Gattina growled at the fleeing figures, her finger itching for the trigger. But now that they were in the street, there was no way to descretely stop them.

The others had finally gotten back up and ran down to Gattina.

"What happened? Where did they-" Honest John was interupted by a gun being shoved into his snout.

"What do you think happened?!" Gattina was bristling with anger. She looked behind her, "It won't take long for them to snitch to the police. We need to act fast."

* * *

Eugene had finally broken out of his stupor a few minutes later and was fighting to get out of Annabella's grip, "Let go of me, peasants! You can't just carry me like this, you'll get me as filthy as you! Put me-"

Annabella finally stopped and held him up at eye level, "We just lost our wood trying to get both you and ourselves out of there. So if I were you, I'd be a little more thankful that we just lost our means of earning a living to save you!"

Eugene just stared wide eyed at her, and was back to trembling a little.

"Annabella, calm down," Melissa said, "We got out of there, so now we can prove Pinocchio's innocence."

Annabella sighed and put Eugene down, "Alright fine. Let's go to the police."

Eugene panicked again, and started to make a run for it.

Annabella grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, "And where do you think you're going?"

"I'm not going to the police, you can't make me!" Eugene still struggled to get out of her grip.

"Hey now, you're the one who helped Pinocchio get arrested," Melissa said.

"He deserved it for what he did!" Eugene insisted.

"Now listen, maybe he did deserve something for hitting you," Jiminy tried to reason, "But framing him for theft doesn't solve anything! You've just caused a bigger mess, and you need to fix it."

"No no no! I'm not going! I'm not going to be disowned and end up like you!" Eugene was now thrashing in Annabella's grip.

Annabella pulled Eugene closer and put him in a headlock, "You're really getting on my nerves..." She scooped him up and started walking towards the police.

As Eugene continued to try to escape, Jiminy furrowed his brow, "What a fuss."

"Yeah, it doesn't look like he's going to be too cooperative," Melissa said.

"If nothing else, Annabella and I can give a report on what we saw," Cornelia said, then gave the crickets on her shoulder a smile, "Either way, we'll get Pinocchio out, and-" Cornelia's sentence was brought to a halt as she ran into Annabella.

"What wrong, why did we-" Jiminy was also silenced as he looked ahead at the police station.

"Oh no..." Annabella moaned as they saw Gattina and Nora talking to the police.

"How in the world did they get ahead of us?!" Melissa asked, slapping a hand to her forehead as the two girls hurried towards the police.

"What's going on?" Cornelia asked as they approached.

Alidoro glanced at Cornelia and gave her a small smile, "Ah, hello Cornelia. Well, you'll be happy to know that Pinocchio will be released." He looked at the small kitten, "Nora has confessed to framing him."

"She what?" Jiminy and Melissa said in unison.

Gattina shook her head, her hands on Nora's shoulders, "I was so disappointed when I found out. Yes we're beggars, but that's no excuse to resort to such trickery."

Ambrose looked at Eugene, "She's also told us of your part in this. We've already contacted your parents.

Eugene paled, and was suddenly limp in Annabella's grip.

"Wait a minute! This isn't right!" Cornelia pointed at Gattina, "She knew about this all along! She was getting paid for it, and just now she tried to blackmail Eugene into paying more!"

Gattina put a hand to her heart, "Oh my word!" She turned to Alidoro, her eyes hidden beneath the pince-nez, "Officer, I think these children are confused. I was with both Nora and Eugene earlier, but that was when I found out about the deception."

"No, that isn't it!" Cornelia insisted, "She was threatening him with a gun! Check her, I'm sure she still had it!"

Alidoro turned to Gattina, looking almost apologetic as he said, "I'm sorry, but for the sake of confirmation, may I check to see if you have a gun."

"Certainly," Gattina said immediately, removing her shawl as she continued with a smile, "That is a very funny accusation, though. Imagine, a blind person wielding a gun."

Alidoro did a brief search, then turned to Cornelia, "There's no gun."

"But... But..." Cornelia was wracking her brain for another excuse, then turned to Eugene, her face red with frustration, "Tell them the truth!"

Eugene jumped a little, but remained silent as he glanced between Cornelia and Nora.

Nora looked at him, her eyes wet as she said, "It's okay. I'm the one who framed Pinocchio. It was wrong, and I should be punished."

Eugene looked at Nora for a good while, his gaze fixed on her pitiful, apologetic, yet strong gaze. It took a jossle from Annabella to snap him out, and he looked at Alidoro and said, "Nora did frame Pinocchio, she's the only one involved."

As a small chorus of "What?!" came from the two human girls, Gattina nodded, "See, even the boy admits it."

"But... this doesn't make sense!" Melissa insisted, "Surely someone saw Gattina buy the food! Can't you ask them about it?!"

There was no response.

Melissa glanced at everyone, anger filling her, "Hey, stop ignoring this! There are so many holes in this story, how can you accept it as... as..."

* * *

White.

Light.

Blinding all around.

There's so much noise, but I don't know what's going on.

People talking.

I can't understand.

Just shut up. I can't concentrate...

* * *

"Melissa, are you okay?" Jiminy asked, holding the dizzy and faint Melissa.

"I... I think so..." Melissa rubbed her head, "I'm just... dizzy. And I'm not sure what happened."

"Probably just overexcited," Jiminy was wiping the sweat from her face with a cloth, "You were pretty mad just now."

Melissa blinked, trying to recall what had happened. She did remember getting angry, but the rest was a blur. The more she tried to think of it, the more her head ached.

"Eugene!" the two crickets' attention was shifted to two adults approaching. The high-class attire and Eugene's expression upon seeing them made it pretty clear who they were. The man had well-groomed brown hair, a matching short beard, and gentle brown eyes. The woman looked almost exactly like Clarissa, except her blonde hair was long and swept up in an elaborate style. Behind them came an anthropomorphic poodle dressed as a butler.

The woman grabbed Eugene's arms and ripped him from Annabella's grasp. After giving Annabella a dirty look she looked at Eugene, "Eugene, what's going on?! Why did the police call us?!"

"Calm down Melody," the man beside her said, then turned to the police, "What is the matter, officers?"

"It seems your son and this young kitten conspired together to frame another young boy for a crime he didn't commit," Ambrose said, "Have you been missing any money?"

"... Yes, as a matter of fact," Eugene's father said, then chuckled a little, "That certainly explains it."

"This isn't a laughing matter, Gustavo!" Melody snapped, her grip on Eugene tightening to the point of making him wince, "Our son has been associating with a beggar and a criminal, and what's worse, a cre-"

"Melody!" Gustavo interupted, "I know this is serious. That was a good chunk of the gold." He looked at Nora, "Do you have any of the money left?"

Nora looked at the ground, "No. I used it all to buy food for my family."

Melody wrinkled her nose, "Spending that much on food. How wasteful."

Gustavo stroked his short beard thoughtfully, then looked at the police, "Well, if it's alright with you, perhaps I can take care of the punishment. She can work off the money I lost from this unfortunate incident. I can put my son through a similar punishment."

"What?!" Melody and Eugene exclaimed. Melody stood up and looked at Gustavo, "You can't be serious."

"Eugene participated in this, he should get equal punishment," Gustavo looked at the poodle, "Medoro, surely you can find some tasks to keep these two busy."

"I can, Master," Medoro bowed a little.

Melissa noticed Gattina and Jiminy flinch a little, and looked at Jiminy questioningly. He just continued to watch the exchange.

"Hmm... well, since they are children," Alidoro said.

"But we'll be checking in to make sure they're working," Ambrose said.

"Of course," Gustavo agreed, "She can stay with the servants."

"Oh thank you sir," Gattina smiled in his direction, "I promise she'll work hard." She pushed Nora towards them, the little kitten stumbling with her cast.

"I will take you at your word," Gustavo nodded, glancing at Nora. Melody also glanced at her, though her eyes were filled with much more distain. Gustavo nodded at the police, "Well, we should be going home. Good day, officers."

Medoro gestured to the children, "Come young master. We'll get you and your little friend ready."

As they passed, Melissa and Jiminy heard Melody mutter in an acidic tone, "As if we don't have enough creatures in our house."

Again Melissa saw Jiminy flinch, and she spoke up, "Jiminy, are you okay?"

"Oh yes, I just... don't much care for that slur," Jiminy fiddled with his umbrella.

Melissa blinked, confusion filling her at this new bit of information.

From one end of the street came an anthropomorphic dark gray male cat. His brown eyes were wide as he saw Nora walking away with the rich family.

"Gattina!" he called out, making Gattina stiffen as he approached, "What's going on?! Where are they taking Nora?"

Gattina turned, speaking through clenched teeth, "Basilio my dear, Nora was caught framing someone for a robbery. She's going to go work for the Guttuso family." As Basilio opened his mouth, Gattina continued slowly and precisely, "There's nothing to be done."

Basilio looked at his wife, then at Nora. She had turned at his voice, and she just gave him a smile through the tears welling up in her eyes.

As Basilio stared at her, Alidoro approached him, "If it's any consolation, I have talked to her before. Every time I talked to her before she seemed like a sweet girl. I'm sure this was just a one-time thing."

Basilio looked at Alidoro, but before he could say anything Gattina grabbed his arm and spoke for him, "Thank you, I'm sure you're right. Basilio, please take me home. This whole thing has upset me too much." She started pulling on his arm until he moved on his own.

From the other side came Antonio and Clarissa. As they started to pass Gustavo and Melody, Clarissa waved at them, "Hello Melody."

Melody stared at Clarissa, a sort of cold fire in her eyes. She just gave a curt nod and walked by, "Mrs. Fausti."

As Clarissa stared after her former sister, Antonio looked at his children sternly, "There you two are. None of our customers have gotten their wood. What have you been doing?"

"Pinocchio was arrested," Annabella said, "but it was all a misunderstanding. We can go back and get the wood to deliver."

Cornelia looked at her sister, "But, what about the big cat? And those other two, they-"

"Cornelia, Pinocchio's being let out," Annabella said, looking at her with a bit of weariness, "There's nothing else we can do. Let's go."

Cornelia furrowed her brow at her, but as they started walking away she let Jiminy and Melissa down before following her family.

* * *

Pinocchio immediately ran into his room once they got home.

"Pinocchio!" Geppetto called out, then sighed as the door slammed, "Perhaps I gave him his own room too soon."

"We'll talk to him Mr. Geppetto, don't worry," Jiminy assured him.

As the two headed for the room, Melissa glanced at Jiminy, "He's been silent ever since he got released."

"I know, usually he's such a talkative boy," Jiminy agreed, and once they reached the door started slipping beneath the bottom crack.

When he and Melissa reached the other side, they saw Pinocchio sitting on his bed, staring down at his feet silently.

"Oh, poor boy," Jiminy muttered, then he and Melissa jumped on the bed, "It's alright Pinoke, you got out. Everything turned out alright in the end."

"But why was I there in the first place?" Pinocchio asked, his eyes welling up a little, "I've been trying to be brave, truthful, and unselfish, just like the Blue Fairy said, but I still got in trouble when I didn't do anything wrong. I thought I was going to be okay, but, b-b-but-" He started to get choked up at this point.

Melissa leapt onto his knee, "Oh Pinocchio, there's something you have to understand. Sometimes bad things happen, regardless of what you do. Sometimes the world isn't fair. But that's not why you do good things."

Pinocchio sniffed, "It... It isn't?"

"No son, you do good things because they're good," Jiminy said, hopping onto the other knee, "Being truly, genuinely good means doing the right thing even when you don't expect any reward for it, or even when there's a chance you could be punished by someone. And life isn't necessarily going to be carefree just because you're good, but from my experience, it's a whole lot more fulfilling to live life doing the right thing."

Pinocchio wiped away his budding tears, then smiled at the two, "Gee, thanks guys. Father was trying to tell me something like that today, but I don't think I got it until now."

"Well, anytime you need to talk, we're here for you," Melissa said.

"Now, why don't you go wash up?" Jiminy suggested as the two crickets jumped onto the bed, "Your father will probably be making dinner soon."

"Okay!" Pinocchio got off the bed and rushed out the door.

Melissa turned to Jiminy with a smile, "Cheesy, but it got the job done."

"Oh hush," Jiminy smiled back, "Speaking of dinner, we should get ours started."

"Okay," Melissa headed for the door as she spoke, "Before that though, I wanted to ask you something."

"Alright, what is it?" Jiminy inquired.

"Back at the station, you reacted to this one word," Melissa said, not wanting to repeat it if her assumption was correct. She could tell by the look on his face that he understood what she meant, and continued, "Is there... some kind of stigma on animals in this world?"

Jiminy coughed, "Well, technically speaking, the stigma is on anthropomorphized animals, or anthros. And yes, there are."

Melissa found it weird to hear such a word come out of his mouth, but brushed the feeling off, "Is it like racism or something? What about Geppetto and his friends, they treated us pretty well."

"Well of course not everyone is so... judgemental," Jiminy said, "I... I take it there aren't any stigmas on anthros in your world?"

"There aren't any in mine," Melissa said, "Just regular animals. They only exist in like, cartoons and stuff."

"Huh. Now that's fascinating," Jiminy rubbed his chin, "There are legends about how anthros didn't always exist in this world, then one day many humans were transformed into half-human, half-animal creatures."

"And no one knows why?" Melissa asked.

"Nope," Jiminy said with a shrug, "Course it is just a legend. More than likely we've been around all along."

Melissa thought about something, "Are there different levels of stigma? Like different animals-type anthros get different treatment?"

"More often than not, yes," Jiminy nodded, "The bigger ones can be part of human society and get jobs, most of the time either menial, labor, or servitude jobs. They still face difficulties and many prefer living in anthro-only communities, or even entire cities. The smaller the anthro, the more likely they are to come from an anthro community or city."

Melissa couldn't help but ask, "Did you come from one of those?"

Jiminy paused a moment, then nodded, "Yes. It was an all bug and insect community in Kittery Point, Maine. It's a nice little place by the coast."

"Sounds quaint," Melissa smiled.

"Yes... sure was..." Jiminy was looking away now.

Sensing the awkwardness, Melissa noted that they were at the base of the counter where their home was, "Well, here we are. So, what do you want for dinner?"

* * *

Knock knock knock

The ten-year-old Melissa walked up to the door, "Who is it?"

"Mr. Miyamoto," the voice on the other side said.

"How do I know it's really you?" Melissa asked.

"Please Melissa, you know me, I've been your social worker since you were a baby," Mr. Miyamoto said.

"Mom said not to answer the door when she isn't here," Melissa said, "Come back later."

"You're alone?"

"I'm fine!" Melissa insisted, "I didn't open the door, did I? I'm not a baby anymore, I can stay alone without killing myself."

"What if you fall and can't get up?" Mr. Miyamoto asked.

"I have a phone," Melissa patted her pocket with the disposable cell phone.

After a moment, Mr. Miyamoto sighed, "Alright, I'll come back at seven. Please tell your mother to be ready."

Melissa put her ear to the door, listening to his footsteps as he walked away. When she heard the slam of a car door, moved around beer cans as she walked to the living room and over to her half-passed-out drunk mother, "He's gone."

"Oh thank God," Melanie groaned, barely moving a hand, "That sushi-eating, yoga-doing, Allah-worshiping chink gets on my nerves."

"Mom, you shouldn't say those things about Mr. Miyamoto, he's nice," Melissa said, grabbing a garbage bag and tossing the miriad of beer cans inside, "Besides, only one of those even makes sense."

"Don't get smart with me," Melanie waved a hand in Melissa's direction.

Melissa looked at her mother, "So Mom, I heard that people who have pets are more happy and less likely to be depressed."

"Redundant," Melanie said.

"So I was thinking, maybe we could get a pet? Like a cat or a fish, they hardly need any attention-"

"Are you serious? You cost enough yourself, and I'm in debt. No way we're adding another expense."

"But I-"

"I. Said. No."

Melissa glanced down at the cans, then sighed and continued cleaning, "You should sleep Mom. He said he'd be back at seven."

Melanie barely acknowledged her. She was already half-conscious.


End file.
